The Coin Collecting Den

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.

It’s taken a lot of time and effort, but I’m happy to announce the addition of a new section to the site: Coin information pages! These pages contain coin specifications, coin history and facts, and mintage information broken down by mint location. The first pages cover dollar coins, from the Morgan dollar to the newest Presidential coin designs. I will be adding pages for half dollars, quarters, dimes, nickels, and pennies as well over the coming days.

Check them out!

Continuing the theme of collecting on a budget, I’d like to take a look at the US presidential dollar set that is currently in process. Beginning in 2007, the Mint began releasing dollar coins with the names and faces of past US presidents. Four are being released each year, with ten released so far, and 41 total currently scheduled through 2016.

Reasons to collect Presidential Dollars:

• Just like the state quarters, the dollars are being released in order of the presidents, beginning with George Washington. Another great educational opportunity for kids to learn about our presidential history!
• Dollar coins can be obtained at your local bank as they are released to make sure they are in great condition.
• The set will be continuing for a number of years, so the annual investment is small, and there will be more to look forward to for quite a while!
• Budget: 41 presidents = $41, one from each mint would be $82. Add a folder and you’re looking at about $90. While more than the quarter set, this expense can be spread out over a number of years, and $8 per year for the presidents is very manageable.

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.

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!

So I checked the mail Friday, and to my surprise there was a box from the Mint! I was not expecting anything so soon, as my order still showed as “processing” as late as Wednesday and was listed as shipping 10/31/09 when I ordered on the 14th. It was a great surprise! I took some pictures of the unboxing, check them out after the jump!

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The Mint announced today that the 24-karat American Buffalo Proof gold coin will begin sales on Thursday, October 29 at 12:00 pm Eastern Standard time. If gold remains between $1,050 and $1,099.99 per ounce, the coins will be priced at $1,360 each. There is no order limit and no announced mintage limit, apparently the Mint is not suffering any shortage of 24-karat blanks, in contrast to the 22-karat blanks used for the American Eagle coins. Demand seems likely to be high for this coin! This could mean the production figures for this coin will be relatively high, which in turn could limit the secondary market value compared to last year’s more limited mintage.

On a related note, the Mint has already sold 86,000 American Buffalo bullion coins as of today (10-22-09) since they went on sale October 15. That is a very robust figure, particularly in comparison to 2008, when 172,000 coins were sold in the entire year. This is a definite indication of strong demand that seems likely to include the proof coins as well.

Well, after crashing the Mint’s web site when sales started Thursday, as of Friday evening, the Mint is showing that they have received at least 50,000 orders for the Lincoln Chronicles set. Anyone still interested in ordering can still get in on the wait list and hope others cancel, or check out the already busy ebay scene!

The Mint launched the US Virgin Islands quarter on Friday with a ceremony on the island of St. Thomas. The reverse design includes: an outline of the territory’s three major islands; the Bananaquit, the official bird of the United States Virgin Islands; the Yellow Cedar or Yellow Elder, its official flower; and a Tyre Palm Tree.  Inscriptions on the coin’s reverse are U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS and United in Pride and Hope. The Virgin Islands quarter is the fifth of six in the series of US territories and Washington, D.C. The sixth and final design, honoring the Northern Mariana islands will be released in late November.

If the previous four issues in the series are any indication, this will be another tough one to find in circulation, at least for a while. Total mintage of 82 million ties the American Samoa quarter for lowest production this year, less than half of the 172 million Washington, D.C. quarters produced to begin the series.