The Coin Collecting Den

The US Mint has revealed the product release schedule for the rest of 2010. You can start ordering each item at noon Eastern Standard Time.

The US Mint has released a preliminary product schedule for 2010. Currently, exact dates have been set for three 2010-dated products: Northern Mariana Islands Official First Day Coin Cover, 2010 Native American $1 Coin Rolls, and 2010 Kennedy Half-Dollar Bag and Two-Roll Set. The remaining products have release dates listed by month.

The preliminary schedule includes most of the same core products that were offered last year with the new 2010-dated coins. This includes quarter bags and rolls for the new America the Beautiful Quarter series, dollar rolls, coin covers, the Presidential Dollar and First Spouse Medal sets, and the usual annual sets. Also included are the 2010 First Spouse Gold coins and bronze medals.

The 2010 Proof Platinum Eagle is listed on the schedule with a release date of August. The US Mint has shown that they are more committed to the collectible Platinum Eagle offering than other collectible precious metals coins. The proof Platinum Eagle is in the midst of a six year “Foundations of American Democracy” reverse design series.

The collectible 2010 Gold and Silver Eagles and proof Gold Buffalo coins are not listed in the schedule. The US Mint has links to information on the availability of the coins, but these just lead to the product pages with the previously released information on the 2009 coins

If you had your heart set on picking up the 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle for your collection but just keep putting it off, your time is running out. The US Mint has announced that sales of the 2009 UHR will end at 3:00 pm Eastern Standard Time on December 31. This is, of course, not really a surprise, as 2009 ends just hours later. Over 108,961 coins have been sold so far. Final mintage figures will be published in January.

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint today announced the new design that Americans will see on the reverse (tails side) of Native American $1 Coins next year.  The design, based on the theme “Government – The Great Tree of Peace,” depicts the Hiawatha Belt with five arrows bound together, with the inscriptions UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, $1, Haudenosaunee and Great Law of Peace.  The United States Mint will commence issuing these coins in January 2010, and they will be available throughout 2010.

The Hiawatha Belt is a visual record of the creation of the Haudenosaunee, also known as the Iroquois Confederacy, with five symbols representing the five original Nations.  The central figure on the belt, the Great White Pine, represents the Onondaga Nation with the four square symbols representing the Mohawk, Oneida, Cayuga and Seneca Nations.  The bundle of arrows symbolizes strength in unity for the Iroquois Confederacy.  The design is by Artistic Infusion Program Master Designer Thomas Cleveland.

Featured on the obverse (heads side) of the 2010 Native American $1 Coin is the familiar “Sacagawea” design by sculptor Glenna Goodacre, first produced in 2000.  Inscriptions on the obverse are LIBERTY and IN GOD WE TRUST.  Like the Presidential $1 Coins, the Native American $1 Coins are minted in the distinctive golden color with the year, mint mark and E PLURIBUS UNUM edge-lettered on the rim.

The Mint has released production figures for circulating coins through November 2009. Total production for the month was only 76.06 million coins, a decrease of nearly 80% from October and the lowest production in years.

These figures include the final mintages for the Zachary Taylor Presidential Dollar and the Northern Mariana Islands quarter. Only Lincoln cents, Presidential Dollars, and NMI quarters were produced during November. Cents and dollars were produced at the Philadelphia Mint, while the Denver Mint produced cents and quarters.

The table below shows coin production for both November and year to date.

November 2009 US Mint Coin Production Figures

Three denominations (Lincoln cents, Presidential dollars, quarters) featured multiple reverse designs that rotated over the course of the year. The table below breaks down the total production figures for the year by reverse design. Of note: It has not yet been confirmed if production of the Lincoln cent Presidency design has ended, so the table only lists totals for the first three Lincoln cent designs. By subtracting the totals for these first three designs from the totals through November given above, possible mintages for the Presidency Cent come in at 198.00 million Denver Mint coins and 129.60 million Philadelphia Mint coins, assuming no further production in December. These totals are substantially less than the first three designs.

The Zachary Taylor Presidential Dollar, the last of the four presidential dollars released for 2009, will go on sale at the Mint at noon Eastern time on Thursday, November 19. Rolls of 25 coins will be available from both the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. Rolls will be priced at $35.95 each, with no quantity restrictions.

The Mint will be releasing the fourth and final Lincoln Bicentennial penny on Thursday, November 12. The design commemorates Lincoln’s presidency in Washington, D.C.

Two roll sets will be available at 12:00pm on November 12 for $8.95. The set includes one 50 coin roll from the Philadelphia Mint with no mint mark, and one roll from the Denver Mint with the “D” mint mark. Orders are limited to five per household.

The Presidency design is the fourth and final of the Lincoln Bicentennial series, with the previous designs commemorating Lincoln’s birth and early childhood in Kentucky, formative years in Indiana, and professional life in Illinois.

Yesterday the Mint announced sales of 19,468 American Buffalo Gold Proof coins through November 1, nearly equaling the entire 2008 production of 19,591 in one week of sales. No limits are in place for production or orders of the Buffalo coin, so it seems likely 2009 could surpass the 58,998 sales in 2007 for second highest mintage since the 246,267 coins sold in 2006, the first year they were offered.

The Mint also announced the 2009 US Virgin Islands First Day Coin Cover will be available for purchase Tuesday, November 10. The US Virgin Islands quarter is the last in the series of D.C. and the 5 US territories released this year. The First Day Cover will be limited to 20,000 units.

The 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof coin went on sale yesterday, October 29. Based on the average price of gold for the period being $1,050.28, the coins were priced at $1,360 each, with no order limits or announced mintage limit. The current spot price of gold is $1,037.50, which could mean a price drop of $50 is in the future for this coin. No sales figures will be out for at least a few days, but since the Mint’s site didn’t crash the way it did with the launch of the Lincoln Chronicles set, it’s safe to say the demand has been more moderate. This may be due to the previously mentioned possibility of a price drop if the price of gold stays below $1,050 per ounce. It may also be due to the lack of a mintage limit, which could mean enough coins will be produced to fill the market demand and reduce the value of the coin in the secondary market. Time will tell!