Coin Blog

Precious metals investors have gotten used to the idea of rationing silver bullion coins, but the US Mint has taken it to a new level.

The America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins are a new bullion series struck in 5 ounces of .999 fine silver. Each over sized coin bears the design of one of the America the Beautiful Quarters. Due to a combination of the unusual specifications, short time frame, and possibly a limited silver supply, the US Mint was only able to produce 33,000 of each design.

That would put these "bullion coins" on par with rarities such as the 1995-W Proof Silver Eagle, which had a mintage of 30,125.

After the US Mint halted the program due to complaints about high prices, they are set to relaunch the program tomorrow. This time around the authorized purchasers will be subject to new terms and conditions.

This will include the requirement that premiums charged to customers be no more than 10% above the cost of acquisition from the US Mint, with a limit of one coin per design per household imposed.

So basically, the few authorized purchasers will be rationed in their supply, and then they must limit this supply to the public. Sounds pretty complicated for a bullion coin, which is supposed to be a commodity like investment product.

The design for the upcoming 2011 Native American Dollar has been revealed by the US Mint. To represent the theme Diplomacy- Treaties with Tribal Nations, the Wampanoag Treaty of 1621 was selected. This represented one of the first treaties between Native Americans and European settlers.

The hands of Supreme Sachem Ousamequin, Massasoit of the Great Wampanoag Nation and Governor John Carver of the settlers at Plymouth Bay are shown exchanging the ceremonial peace pipe. An inscription below indicates "Wampanoag Treaty 1621". Additional inscriptions above the image are "United States of America" and "$1".

The Native American Dollar series began in 2009 and has featured a different reverse design annually to represent the accomplishments and contributions of Native Americans. The dollar coins have been issued along side the Presidential Dollars series, in a quantity of at least 20% of all dollar coins each year.

Previous designs have featured agriculture (2009) with the Three Sisters method of planing and government (2010) with the Haudenosaunee.

Last week, the US Mint released the Hot Springs National Park Quarter Three Coin Set. As the name states, this set contains only three coins, consisting of the Hot Springs Quarter uncirculated Philadelphia, uncirculated Denver, and proof San Francisco coins.

The coins are displayed nicely on a plastic card with some coin information on the back. The cost for this tiny set is $13.95, plus shipping and handling of $4.95. It will be interesting to see how many collectors can get over the sticker shock. To buy all five releases for the year would cost $69.75, before shipping and handling.

The three coins appear in several other products at a significantly reduced cost. To obtain the coins, someone could alternatively buy the 2010 Proof Set and 2010 Mint Set priced at $31.95 each. Alternately, someone could buy the separate America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set at $14.95 and Uncirculated Coin Set at $21.95.

Through each of the products, one would obtain not just the Hot Springs National Park Quarter, but all of the 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters uncirclated and proof coins. In the case of the annual sets, there would also be a great deal of other coins included as well.

I don't know who's in charge of product development at the Mint, but they must not think their customers are very bright.

Just how many of the 2010 Proof Silver Eagles will the United States Mint sell? This is an important question since the mintage for the coin will play a big part in the eventual secondary market value of the offering, after sales conclude at the Mint.

Two forces will be at odds, in making the final determination. First is the incredible demand from collectors. After the absence of the Proof Silver Eagle for more than two years, there will be a rush of orders to obtain the previously unobtainable coin. The strong performance of silver this year, may also add a note of urgency.

Second, is the US Mint's well known supply constraints. They are legally required to provide silver bullion coins in quantities necessary to meet public demand, even though their supply of planchets is limited to the amount their foreign suppliers will send. At times of high bullion demand, the US Mint has ceased production of collector coins. If bullion demand is high, further production of 2010 Proof Silver Eagles will not be possible.

My guess at how many coins the US Mint already has available is 1.5 million. There was some slack in bullion demand in September, which would have allowed this number to be produced. Also, the US Mint has possibly 90,000 subscription orders for the coins already. (This is a guess based on the number of email notifications accidentally sent last week.) If each subscription order is for an average of five coins, that's 450,000 already gone.

Also, the US Mint has a household order limit of 100 coins in place. This is rather high, suggesting that plenty are available for bulk orders.

All things considered is 1.5 million maybe too low of a guess? We shall see...

On November 18, 2010, the United States Mint released the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Dollar. This has been an eagerly awaited issue of the series, following some of the lesser known Presidents of the United States.

Numismatists have long favored depictions of Lincoln on their coins. He has appeared on literally hundreds of different medals and coins issued over the years. When he was featured on the Illinois Centennial Half Dollar, this became the first of the early commemorative coins to sell out of its entire maximum authorized mintage.

More recently, Lincoln's bicentennial was celebrated with the issuance of four different reverse designs for the Lincoln Cent and commemrorative silver dollars.

The 2010 Abraham Lincoln Presidential Dollar will be the 16th release in the overall series and the final release for the year. Collectors will be able to purchase numismatic rolls from the US Mint today, or can request the coins at their banks.