June 3rd, 2010 — Mintages
The United States Mint recently provided the final production figures for the Franklin Pierce Dollar. This coin is the fourteenth release of the Presidential Dollar coin series, which began back in 2007.
The final production figures came in at 38,220,000 coins from the Philadelphia Mint and 38,360,00 coins from the Denver Mint. This makes for a combined circulating coin production total of 76,580,000.
Interestingly, this marks a slight increase from the production levels of the previous Millard Fillmore Dollar. This may or may not be a turning point for the series.
Since 2007, the general trend for mintages has been down. After producing 340 million George Washington Dollars, figures rapidly fell for the remaining releases that year. During 2008 and 2009, mintages continued to move generally downward, but there were a few blips upward interspersed. Will the Franklin Pierce Dollar turn out to be another blip, or the start of a longer stabilization or upturn in production?
April 21st, 2010 — Coin News
Last week, the United States Mint began selling the 2010 Presidential Dollar Uncirculated Set. This set contains the uncirculated versions of each of the 2010 Presidential Dollars from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints.
If the US Mint stays with past practice, the coins in the set will be minted with a special satin finish. This type of finish has been used for Mint Sets and some other collectible products since 2005. The satin finish makes the coins different than the regular business strikes.
The eight coin set is priced at $18.95 each. Even though I plan to purchase the 2010 Mint Set, which will also include these coins, I decided to purchase this set to get an earlier look at the Presidential Dollars for this year. I ordered the set on the opening day of sales and hope it arrives soon.
February 23rd, 2010 — Coin News
The US Mint released the thirteenth Presidential Dollar in the series featuring Millard Fillmore on February 18, 2010. The release was accompanied by two separate launch ceremonies held in Moravia, NY (the official US Mint launch ceremony) and Buffalo, NY (a special event at city hall attended by a US Mint rep). See this amusing article in the Wall Street Journal.
Following the format of the series, the Millard Fillmore Presidential Dollar features his portrait on the obverse, with inscriptions indicating his name, order of the Presidency, and years of the term. The reverse of the coin features a rendition of the Statue of Liberty that has been used in common for each coin of the series.
On the same day as the release, the US Mint began sales of 25-coin rolls from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mint. These rolls are priced at $35.95 each.
February 15th, 2010 — Coin Series
Last week on February 11, 2010, the US Mint began selling the 2010 Presidential Dollar Proof Set. This set represents the first availability of this year's Presidential Dollar coins including the Abraham Lincoln Dollar.
The sets contain four proof coins featuring Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan, and Abraham Lincoln. The reverse design of each coin features the Statue of Liberty. Each coin still features edge lettering with "E Pluribus Unum" and the date and mint mark. The motto "In God We Trust", which appeared on the edge from 2007 to 2008, is now on the obverse.
The sets are priced at $15.95 each. It's usually a much better deal to wait for the full 2010 Proof Set, which contains all of the proof issues for the year, but I decided to order the separate Presidential Dollar Set. I want to get a look at these early this year!
December 11th, 2009 — Mintages
The final circulation strike mintages for the Zachary Taylor Presidential Dollar were recently released by the US Mint. They represent new mintage lows for each respective mint and on an overall basis.
The Zachary Taylor Dollar was released into circulation on November 19, 2009 as the fourth and final release of the series for the year and the twelfth release since the series began. Until this point, mintages have shown a general decline for each subsequent release, with two small interruptions.
The latest mintage figures break new ground to the downside. On an overall basis, the mintage came in at 78,260,000. This was divided between 41,580,000 coins produced at the Philadelphia Mint and 36,680,000 coins produced at the Denver Mint.
This comes in almost 10 million below the mintage of the prior release. The number is also about one fourth of the mintage achieved for the first release of the series for the George Washington Dollar. Will the mintages continue to decline as the series progresses?
