Prices Soaring for 2008-W Uncirculated & Proof Platinum Eagles

I've written previously on this year's 2008-W Uncirculated & Proof Platinum Eagles. The coins were only on sale for a brief period of time, and all ordering options have been suspended since August 7. In the past few weeks, prices realized have soared for the small number of coins that have been on the market.

For clarification, these are not the platinum bullion coins, but the collectible versions of the coins offered directly from the US Mint. The uncirculated version carries a "W" mint mark which distinguishes it from the regular bullion issues.

Because of the limited amount of time the coins were on sale and the declining price of platinum, sales figures were shockingly low. The lowest sales number was 579 for the 1/2 oz. Unc Platinum Eagle. See full 2008-W Unc & Proof Platinum Eagles sales figures.

Below are prices realized from the last 30 days of eBay auctions. Current eBay auctions can be found here. Current auctions show only a small number of listings with very high Buy It Now prices.

• 2008-W 1/10 oz. Unc Platinum Eagles have sold for $565 and $629 for coins graded PCGS MS70. (US Mint price $279.95)
• 2008-W 1/4 oz. Unc Platinum Eagles have sold for $860 raw, $1,000 for NGC MS 70, $2,199 for PCGS MS70 (US Mint price $664.95)
• 2008-W 1/2 oz. Unc Platinum Eagles have sold for $2,182 raw, $2,899 and $3,061 for PCGS MS70. (US Mint price $1,279.95)

• 2008-W 1/10 oz. Proof Platinum Eagles have sold for $550 for NGC PF 70 UC, $1,025 for PCGS PR70DCAM. (US Mint price $279.95)
• 2008-W 1/4 oz. Proof Platinum Eagle has sold for $1,266 raw. (US Mint price $664.95)
• 2008-W 1 oz. Proof Platinum Eagle has sold for $3,600 for NGC PF 70 UC. (US Mint price $2,509.95)

Some of these prices are for top graded PCGS & NGC coins, but even the raw prices are well above the last prices set by the US Mint. Also keep in mind that the Mint prices were set when platinum was around $1,900 per ounce, nearly double the current price of $987.

The risk of paying such high prices is that the US Mint could still potentially put the coins back up for sale at lower prices, destroying the secondary market that has developed. I'm still hearing mixed reports of whether the coins will come back. If they do come back, I think that the Mint will be selling off their remaining inventory of the coins and not producing additional coins. The rationale for this can be found in the prior post discussing the Gold & Platinum Eagle production halts.

When the dust settles, I think the uncertainty and volatility of 2008 will have created a new class of low mintage, modern key date coins. This is definitely a developing story worth watching.