Anna Harrison First Spouse Gold Coins
The next product scheduled to be released by the US Mint is the 2009-W Anna Harrison First Spouse Gold Coin. The coins will go on sale March 5, 2009 at 12:00 Noon ET.
This coin will mark the first release of the First Spouse Gold series for 2009. The obverse of the coin was designed by Donna Weaver and sculpted by Joseph Menna. The reverse of the coin which features Anna Harrison sharing her passion for education, was designed by Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by Charles L. Vickers. Each coin contains one-half ounce of 24 karat gold.
Offerings will include proof and uncirculated versions of the gold coin, as well as bronze medal duplicates. Prices for the gold coins will be determined based on the average price of gold for the week preceding the coin's release. If gold remains in the current range of $900 - $949.99 per ounce, the proof coins will be priced at $629.00 and the uncirculated coins will be priced at $616.00. The bronze medals will be priced at $3.50.
The maximum mintage for the gold coins has been set at 40,000 across both proof and uncirculated versions. An ordering limit of ten coins per option per household will be in effect for the first week of sales.
The First Spouse Gold series in general has experienced a decline in popularity. The first three coins in the series featuring Martha Washington, Abigail Adams, and Thomas Jefferson's Liberty each sold out on the first day of offering. Following the initial enthusiasm, subsequent coins did not sell out and fell into a pattern of diminishing sales figures.
The two most recent issues for Andrew Jackson's Liberty and Martin Van Buren's Liberty seem to have generated an uptick in interest. However, it does not seem likely that this will continue with the latest coin since Anna Harrison was less well known and the rising price of gold continues to push the coin out of reach for some collectors. In actuality, the Anna Harrison First Spouse Coin might be interesting to watch to see if it can set a new mintage low for the series.
Labels: First Spouse Gold Coins
posted by Mint News Blog @ 5:22 AM
6 Comments:
Ugly coin, think I'll pass on this one...
When this series started I told myself I was only going to buy the "liberty" FW coins and the modern ones (IE: Jackie O.)
The premiums are high and the designs for many of the coins are uninspiring. I think the sheer volume of coins that will ultimately make up the series will keep collectors away potentially for centuries.
I've managed to keep up so far with the uncirculated editions but it hasn't been easy. Five coins will be released this year. That may knock a few more people out.
I've managed to afford 2 of both the Proof and Uncirculated versions for all eight releases so far, but it is getting expensive. I would love to be able to keep both complete sets going until the end of the program, but if gold doesn't come down I'm afraid it will prove impossible for me.
Despite the current decline in popularity, I still can't help but think that this series will end up being a winner. A few years down the road, people might be sorry that sales were so slow for 2008, because there can obviously only be as many complete sets of these as the lowest minted coin. Even though there were 20,000 minted of each finish for the first 3 coins, Elizabeth Monroe is on the brink of drastically reducing the number of complete sets possible. It is human nature to be a completist, so later on there should be some fighting over the paltry supply of these coins. The 2009's will likely come in even lower than the 2008's, barring a steep decline in the gold spot price.
I figure even if the series doesn't eventually catch on in popularity, I will still have numerous ounces of gold. That in itself will ALWAYS be worth something! The potential for gain is much greater than the potential for loss.
The ... horror ... the... horror ..
It's comical that the Mint even bothers to impose a household ordering limit on the First Spouse coins now. Collectors haven't exactly been beating down the door to buy these anymore. Now that the speculators are out of the picture, only true collectors who can afford them are buying these coins.
The most ugly one. Why first spouse in GOLD? They can be cast in silver too!
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