Coin Blog

As a change from recent years, the US Mint has announced nearly their entire numismatic product schedule for the upcoming year. It had become practice to release the schedule piecemeal, often with estimated release dates and numerous "TBD's". This time there is only one TBD, and incredibly release dates listed for Proof Gold and Silver Eagles.

Among the notable missing, are the numismatic versions of the America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Coins. With collectors still having trouble finding the bullion versions, many are eagerly awaiting the collector versions. Although the mintages will be lower, at least everyone will have a fair shot at them through the US Mint's website.

The US Mint's 2011 numismatic product schedule is reproduced below.

The US Mint began selling the 2009 Mint Set on October 1, 2009. Many collectors have eagerly been awaiting this set, which is typically issued much earlier in the year. The set represents the largest Mint Set even issued, and contains special 2009 Lincoln Cents.

The set contains a whopping 36 different coins from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. The US Mint has issued a record 18 different coin designs this year, amidst many programs featuring rotating designs. This has expanded the set and increased the price for collectors.

Each set contains eight 2009 Lincoln Cents (four designs, two mints), two Jefferson Nickels, two Roosevelt Dimes, twelve quarters (six designs, two mints), two Kennedy Half Dollars, two Native American Dollars, and eight Presidential Dollars (four designs, two mints). The sets are offered by the US Mint for $27.95 each.

The 2009 Lincoln Cents are struck with a composition of 95% copper, 3% zinc, and 2% tin. This special composition matches the original used in 1909. So far, sales of the set have outpaced the prior year set, which contained 28 coins.

About a week ago, the US Mint started selling a separate Proof Coin Set, which just includes the 2009 Lincoln Cents. This means the four different reverse designs are included featuring the Birthplace, Formative Years, Professional Life, and Presidency.

The sets are priced at $7.95. It looks like the coins are included in the same sort of plastic lens that the 2009 Lincoln Cents have been packaged in for the full 2009 Proof Set. A newly designed outer cardboard box will be used.

This is an interesting offering because it splits up the annual proof set again. The US Mint already sells a separate 2009 Quarters Proof Set for $14.95 and a separate Presidential Dollars Proof Set for $14.95. Incidentally the full proof set is priced at $29.95.

It's also interesting because many enterprising individuals and coin dealers had taken to selling separate 2009 Lincoln Cent Proof Sets already. Before the US Mint began selling the same product, these sets had to be broken out of the full 2009 Proof Sets. The individual Lincoln Cent Proof Sets had been selling for about $15 to $20. Is the US Mint's offering a reaction to these homemade offerings?

The US Mint recently released the majority of their product schedule for the rest of 2009. Unfortunately, most of the availability dates are listed by season (spring, summer, fall, or winter). It still provides a nice road map for the rest of the year if you are interested in US Mint products.

The most anticipated products with a published release date will be this year's Commemorative coins. This includes the 2009 Abraham Lincoln Commemorative Silver Dollar and the 2009 Louis Braille Commemorative Silver Dollar. The coins will be released on February 12, 2009 and March 26, 2009.

Interestingly, all of the American Eagle collector coins are missing from the scheduled. This includes the gold, silver, and platinum coins. The American Buffalo Gold coins are also missing. Hopefully these will be added later on.

Below is the published schedule to date.

Yesterday, the US Mint unveiled a new pricing policy for all gold and platinum numismatic products.

Under the new policy, prices can be updated as often as weekly. Adjustments will take place on Thursday mornings at 10:00 AM ET if the average price of gold for the prior week exceeds certain thresholds. The thresholds are placed at $50 increments for gold products and $100 increments for platinum products.

The pricing charts included with the US Mint's notification included the eagerly anticipated 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle. This is the first indication that collectors have seen on the price for the upcoming offering.

Provided the average price of gold remains between $850 to $899.99, the coins will be priced at $1,239 each.  The coins will be released on January 22, 2009.