Mint News Blog

News, Information, and Commentary on US Mint Products

Tuesday, March 3, 2009

2009 Lincoln Cent Rolls from the US Mint


Is the 2009 Lincoln Cent Mania coming to an end? The US Mint has quietly added 2009 Lincoln Cent Two-Roll Set offerings to their scheduled products listing.

The following were added to the schedule yesterday with the corresponding release dates:

Lincoln Cent Birthplace Roll Set 3/13/2009
Lincoln Cent Formative Years Roll Set Spring
Lincoln Cent Professional Life Roll Set Summer
Lincoln Cent Presidency Roll Set Winter

Specific details for the Lincoln Penny rolls have not yet been released. Presumably each set would include one roll from the Philadelphia Mint and one roll from the Denver Mint in custom US Mint wrappers. It seems likely that the coins contained in the rolls would be the regular zinc versions also struck for circulation. So far, the US Mint has stated that the bronze (or 95% copper) collectors versions would only be included in the 2009 annual sets and 2009 Lincoln Five Coin Set.


Pricing for the two roll sets has also not yet been announced. The price for the two roll nickel sets released in prior years was $8.95 for $4 face value of coins. The two roll penny sets would likely be priced below that level.

The release dates for the next three 2009 Lincoln Cent releases are listed only with seasonal dates, but hopefully the US Mint will be able to coordinate the offerings with the launch dates into circulation. I listed the tentative Lincoln Penny Release Dates previously.

Roll set offerings usually begin on the same day the coins are officially launched into circulation. In this case, the first roll set is a month late. The US Mint initially did not intend to offer roll sets for the 2009 Lincoln Cents. They only decided to put together an offering after it became apparent that circulation of the new coins through normal channels would be delayed.

Hopefully this offering will put a ceiling on some of the ridiculous prices that were being paid for the coins on eBay. At the time of writing this post, prices already seem to have come down quite a bit.

Labels: ,

7 Comments:

At March 3, 2009 at 6:40 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Those folks who were shelling out $50+ for a .50 cent roll of pennies in NF String & Son wrappers just like the ones that will be flooding the market in a few weeks definitely have more dollars than sense (pun intended).

 
At March 3, 2009 at 11:14 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

If some one buys an overpriced penny now on ebay - I've got some Obama Commemorative half dollars to sell them at a good price....

You know - the ones with stickers.

 
At March 3, 2009 at 5:55 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Not to do with the Penny's, but more with prices, what's everyone's opinion on the 2008 Silver Proof Eagle's selling on Ebay for about $50 to $200? ...reasonable or not? ...although with the Penny's, we knew the Mint would eventually release them, where with the American Eagle, it might be gone for good.

 
At March 4, 2009 at 8:30 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

A lot of newbies think they need to be the first to obtain a few rolls for their collections. They've been sold on thinking current offerings will be like those of 100 yrs ago (1909). Paying absurd costs is a losing proposition and many ebay users create their own misery. Almost every bank will be able to supply a roll or two shortly to their account holders. Just ask your favorite teller to keep an eye peeled for you.

 
At March 4, 2009 at 8:42 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Regarding Carlo's question, the prices on eBay are a good indication of what the 2008 Silver Eagle Proof coin is worth to collectors who missed out on it. The Mint definitely caught a lot of people off-guard when the coin never came back after it became unavailable in August. Most probably figured it would eventually return, but when it never did the prices started to rise.

Although not a low-mintage coin by any stretch of the imagination, it is still lower than some recent years. Even more importantly though, perceived scarcity is as powerful or even more so than actual scarcity. There's just something about those magical red letters "Product is Not Available" on a U.S. Mint product page that more often than not send collectors into a buying frenzy on the very same items that no one seemed to want when they were available.

 
At March 9, 2009 at 11:57 AM , Blogger astroguy said...

Prices have been announced here. Same prices as the nickel rolls, $8.95 for a 2-roll set. Sigh.

 
At March 9, 2009 at 12:17 PM , Blogger Mint News Blog said...

I just saw this too....the pricing is disappointing.

 

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home