CoinNews

It has been the Fall week for commemorative news from the US Mint. On Monday it added the Lincoln Coin & Chronicles Set to its online store in preparation for an Oct. 15 debut, and it just announced next week's release of the United States Mint Braille Education Set.

The set includes an uncirculated Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar with special packaging that has genuine Braille text -- a first time event for the US Mint, much like the silver dollar is the first ever coin with readable Braille.

The set will be issued Thursday, Oct 8, at noon Eastern Time for a price of $44.95. Sales are limited to a maximum of 25,000 and a further order limit of one (1) per household will be enforced.

These limits invite the question, will the education set sell out? The previously mentioned Lincoln Chronicles Set has a 50,000 max limit. Many expect those will fall to collector demand on the first day of issue. There is supportive reasoning. Lincoln silver dollars sold out earlier in the year to the tune of 325,00 proof and 125,000 uncirculated. That happened in just over six weeks. 50,000 actually had to be held in reserve for the chronicles set.

Read the rest of this numismatic news article »

 

A Fundamental Question. Or Two. Or Three. Good Day, Gold relinquished the $1,000 level in the hours prior to yesterday afternoon's final...

Hockey victory voted by fans as the top Canadian Olympic Winter Games moment of all time OTTAWA, ONTARIO -- An historic Olympic hockey victory for...

(Santa Ana, California) -- New features and more than 2,500 additional high-quality coin photos have been added to the all-new PCGS CoinFacts® (www.PCGSCoinFacts.com) since...

Gold ended lower Thursday, staying just above $1,000 an ounce, as the US dollar gained strength. It was the...

On October 1, 2009, the People's Republic of China is celebrating its 60th anniversary of independence – appropriately with fireworks (which the Chinese invented)....

The 2009 United States Mint Uncirculated Coin Set® went on sale Thursday at noon Eastern Time for the price of $27.95. The product, which most numismatists will generally refer to simply as the 2009 Mint Set, includes an array of 36 coins. These are struck in uncirculated condition with 18 minted in Denver and the remaining from Philadelphia.

The 18 coins are grouped into their own US Mint folder -- red for Denver and blue for Philadelphia -- with included coin specifications and certificate of authenticity.

The annual sets are one of the most popular US Mint offerings, as exemplified by last year's set which had total sales of 745,464. (The number would have been higher, but they were unexpectedly pulled from Mint store shelves on Feb. 25.) The 2008 US Mint set had fewer coins at 28 and was therefore issued at a less expensive $22.95 price. As another reference, 907,268 of the same priced 2007 US Mint sets were purchased by collectors.

In an interesting side note but also another example that highlights the product's popularity, each of the older sets are currently being sold on the secondary market with solid premiums. The 2008s are going for between $40-$50 on eBay while the 2007s are in the $30-$40 range.

Read the rest of this numismatic news article »

Four numismatic news or coin blog articles are referenced on CoinNews every Tuesday and Thursday. These articles are not authored by...

Bullion American Eagle Gold and Silver Coins ended September in shining fashion, but recent demand has mostly weakened for collector proof and uncirculated coins. That is, except for uncirculated 2009 Presidential Dollar Sets. Their sales inexplicably blasted off like a rocket.

These and more highlights follow:

• Bullion American Gold Eagles marked the end of the month by registering the 3rd best September since 1986 with 115,500. The month was also the 4th best of this year -- just missing the 3rd slot by a mere 501. At year's end, 2009 annual eagles sales should rank 4th or 5th best of all time. One million is within very close reach. 954,000 is the current count.

• 2009 bullion American Silver Eagles have already assured their place in history. It is the second best September ever for the coins, but more impressively, annual sales are locking in to a record all time high. 20,467,500 silver eagles have already been sold this year. 2008-dated eagles earned the top spot last year with 20,583,000. Say goodbye to that, and soon.

• For no apparent rhyme or reason, Presidential $1 Coin Uncirculated Sets exploded. The tally soared 11,217 to 85,478. At $15.95 a pop, the Mint pulled in a cool $179,000. Last week's report showed a sleeping increase of just 1,278. As mentioned before, the US Mint Fall catalog arrived on collector's doorsteps to help boost sales, but other coins/sets didn't have similar astronomical, above and beyond increases. This one is a bit of a mystery.

Read the rest of this numismatic news article »

Precious metals were on fire Wednesday as a weakened US dollar helped gold jump back above $1,000 an ounce. The...