The US Mint's Shrinking Product Line
A combination of factors have come together to create a drastically reduced number of 2009 collector products available at the United States Mint. A few readers have recently remarked that it's now "boring" to visit the US Mint's online store.
By my count there are only 22 2009-dated products available from the US Mint's online store. This compares to more than 50 2008-dated products available on the same date last year. There are a number of factors that have caused the reduced number of available products.
First, the US Mint intentionally reduced the number of products that would be offered for 2009. Numerous fringe products were eliminated such as the collectible spoons and the Historical Signature Sets. Product eliminations also included a large number of platinum and gold products. The number of anticipated Platinum Eagle offerings was cut from ten to only one, Gold Buffalo offerings were cut from ten products to only one, and Gold Eagle products were cut from ten to six. The cuts were supposedly in response to customers who complained that the US Mint offered too many products.
Second, the US Mint has been forced to delay the release of several 2009 precious metals related products. This includes the 2009 Proof and Uncirculated Gold Eagles and 2009 Proof and Uncirculated Silver Eagles. These collector products are suspended until the US Mint is able to obtain sufficient inventories of gold and silver blanks to meet market demand for bullion products. Release dates have not been set for the proof Platinum Eagle and proof Gold Buffalo coins.
Third, there has been a high percentage of sell outs for 2009 products. Sold out products have included all 2009 District of Columbia Bags and Rolls, proof and uncirculated Lincoln Commemoratives, William Henry Harrison Rolls, Lincoln Birthplace Rolls, and two options for Puerto Rico Bags. There is greater demand for these rolls due to record low mintages for some of the coins. Also, some collectors may be buying the rolls simply due to a lack of other options.
While I would have to agree that last year, the US Mint was offering too many products, this year the situation has swung to the opposite extreme. There are too few products available and the US Mint is not stocking inventories deep enough for these products to remain available for very long.
Listed below are the 2009-dated products currently available for sale at the US Mint. For anyone looking to draw comparisons, here is an archived version of the US Mint 2008 Product Release Schedule.
| 2009 Native American Direct Ship Rolls |
| 2009 DC & US Territories Proof Set |
| 2009 Native American Roll - P |
| 2009 Native American Roll - D |
| 2009 UHR Double Eagle |
| 2009 Kennedy Half Bag |
| 2009 Kennedy Half Two Roll Set |
| 2009 Presidential Dollar Proof Set |
| 2009 First Spouse Anna Harrison - Unc |
| 2009 First Spouse Anna Harrison - Proof |
| William Henry Harrison Coin Cover |
| Anna Harrison Bronze Medal |
| 2009 DC & US Territories Silver Proof Set |
| Louis Braille Commemorative - Unc |
| Louis Braille Commemorative - Unc (easy open) |
| Louis Braille Commemorative - Proof |
| 2009 Puerto Rico Quarter Two Roll Set |
| 2009 Puerto Rico Quarter 100-coin Bag - P |
| 2009 Puerto Rico Quarter 100-coin Bag - D |
| 2009 Presidential Dollar Uncirculated Set |
| Presidential $1 Coin and Medal Set - Harrison |
| District of Columbia Coin Cover |
Labels: US Mint
posted by Mint News Blog @ 3:29 AM
30 Comments:
Thanks for the heads-up Michael. It looks as though Mr. Moy and the Mint has gotten the message. As you point out, this has a side effect of making instant product shortages and rapid sellouts, and some manufactured products won't be sitting unsold in fulfillment bins. That also suggests dealers and well funded ebay-type buyers will soak up available Mint products and squeeze out the slower little collector who has supported the Mint in the past. Hopefully a balance will emerge to satisfy all comers.
Michael, your list does not show the Adams, Jackson and Van Buran First Spoouse Gold Proof/Unc. coins
Note to Stevieladeek: All of the coins you cited as not being on Michael's list are 2008 coins. Mike's list specifically said 2009-dated products. Thanks and take care.
Tony
My bad!!! Thanks
It's a shame, but quite honestly, the US Mint doesn't have ANY more gold, silver, or platinum. Anything 2008-W will be sold for a MINT in the coming years, so get what you can while you can!
NOTIFIED TODAY(4/27) THAT MY ORDER OF LINCOLN'S(5 ROLLS) THAT WAS ORDERED ON 3/16 IS BEING SHIPPED. IS ANYBODY ELSE STILL JUST NOW RECEIVING THEIR LINCOLN ORDERS?
That explains why I ordered the DC First Day Cover and the Puerto Rico rolls. Normally, I wouldn't have even considered these. I think I'm addicted to buying something, anything, from the Mint.
What I find odd is that no 2009-dated platinum eagles have been made at all. So the explanation about having to use planchets for the bullion coins instead doesn't apply with platinum. Very strange year at the Mint.
I received my first day/hour order of Lincoln rolls 2 weeks ago after 3 calls to complain. I have 2 friends that received their first day order last Friday and another that has not received their first day order. I noticed a marked increase of sets for sale on Ebay in the last 5 days and the prices have dropped about $20 each on average. The Dukester
I thinke the us mint is not releasing the siver,gold, and platinum eagles due to economy.
The blanks shortage is b.s. story to keep people at bay.
The government is got alot of its precious metals leveraged. Their waiting on prices to go up, Then produce and sell high to us. Any other year in past eagles were on sale early in year Jan/Feb no problem then.
My Lincoln two-roll set just shipped two days ago... I ordered it somewhere in early March, if I remember correctly.
I believe their is going to a lot of new collectors like me who invested in gold and silver for investment purposes but saw how fun coin collecting can be. I think this will only help increase prices higher with the limited amount of mint coins! I know of 5 people like myself who have started their collecitons recently mainly with mint modern coins.
am I the only idiot that ordered the historical signature one dollar proof pres. sets ,think they will worth anything someday,paid 20.00 a set like throwing money out the window BOY DO I FEEL LIKE A DUMBASS
what about the spouse liberty proof series , is that still pursuing
Without an econmic recovery the bullion buyers will remain on full throttle and the spouse gold may be the only game in town for the gold coin collectors this year. Just keep an eye on the price.
The Huffington Post reports that BerkShares in Massachusetts and Ithaca Hours in New York have been circulated for years. But more towns like Detroit are getting in the act. The Detroit News says that more than a dozen businesses are accepting the newly minted Detroit Cheers.
More and more communities are printing their own paper currency to be used locally and support local economy rather than have wealth sucked to NY for benefit of the large banking institutions which are raiding America. These same communities continue to use US coins as it is unConstitutional to coin money.
Furthermore, US coins do not have "Federal Reserve" emblazoned on them, as do currency notes.
Looking forward, as more individuals and communities seek to protect themselves from Wash DC & NY, look for more of these innovative changes. Regionalism vs. globalism.
What this means is one of the best strategies one can do now is begin hording clad dollar and half-dollar and quarter coins. These will be in high demand as paper currency issued by Federal Reserve falls into disrepute.
The action we are seeing with quick sellouts of clad coins is presaging this future event. Surely individuals are buying in order to flip on Ebay, but as an aggregate--viz. as a market--this phenomenon is pointing to premium for ordinary clad coins.
40% Ag Kennedy halves are also important to horde. These are a middle way, a transition factor, between these clad coins and bullion.
Interesting previous post.
There are other options ... I've recently been buying from the RCM; they make some great, low-mintage products. I know, it's sacrilige to even consider any non-US mint product, but the Canucks have a lot going for them-- they pioneered the five-9-pure gold bullion coin (the maple leaf), employ a variety of advanced minting techniques (yeah, sometimes they're gimicky), keep their mintages very low for the most part (sometimes even just 40 pieces for the most expensive items, but usually 10K-30K pieces), and their products are sought after the world over. Plus, their website is superior to the US' in every way, and it pains me to say that, believez-moi, n'est pas?
Maybe if more money got siphoned off elsewhere, the US mint would start to feel the pinch and get their act together.
I thinke the us mint is not releasing the siver,gold, and platinum eagles due to economy.
The blanks shortage is b.s. story to keep people at bay.To keep people at bay, why? For the government to make money on sales, later?
The wheels are coming off, and the government is fearing for their fiat paper. How about a post on gold and silver eagle BU sales for the past few years?
Get your gold and silver while you still can.
And now we see the MINT has stopped producing circulation DIME coinage for the remainder of 2009. Watch these skyrocket due to low mintage. Imagine, a common thin dimes, which coins are next? - Bob
To "Anonymous" who bought the Historical Signature Proof Sets: You are NOT an idiot. Those silly things can fetch big bucks right now. Check out some recent completed eBay auctions to see just what a WISE decision you made to buy them. I was the idiot for cancelling my order for two of each set.
Unload them NOW before the collecting community comes to their senses and realize that they really are a worthless product after all! :)
Great comments ... just received my Louis Braille silver proof this weekend. I ordered one for me and one for a six year old b-day gift also bought a short bio book to accompany the b-day gift. The coin is lovely ... I wish I'd bought two more, maybe it's not too late. Louis Braille's story demonstrates how precious vision is and how one very handicapped person made such a difference even though he died at the young age of 43. I'm surprised this coin hasn't flown off the shelf.
Grandma D
Isn't the Mint also done with producing nickels this year as well? 2009 could end up being our generation's 1921. Here it's almost May and I still haven't seen a 2009-dated coin in my change.
Where did you hear the Mint will not be striking anymore 2009 dated dimes?
Coin World has an article saying the Mint is done striking nickels and dimes for the year, and the remaining Lincoln cent designs will be drastically affected.
Re: Current Year Production -
No shock - look at mintages of coins during the 1920's and early 1930's. Many years are skipped completely for denominations, and many key dates occur during that time frame.
Re: Shrinking Product Line -
Considering how well they've managed to produce and ship the products people do want, I'm amazed that they produce anything anymore.
Interesting posts guys. How quickly it gets off topic and into wild PM theories. I believe the blank shortage is close to the truth. With the Mint's legal requirement to fulfill bullion orders first, and with people desperately trying to convert trillions in fiat paper and risky equities into valueable commodities, there probably aren't and won't ever be enough blanks for proof coins. Well maybe just enough to avoid suspicion and panic.
I also just noticed that they've removed the bags of Presidential dollars off the Product schedule; just rolls remain....
CLAD COINGAGE SHORTAGE IS A GLOBAL PHENOMENON
* APRIL 23, 2009, 12:59 P.M. ET
Argentine-Chinese Grocers Face Coin Crisis With Own Currency
BUENOS AIRES (Dow Jones) -- With Argentina's infuriating coin shortage stalling business and adding costs, the ethnic Chinese owners of mini-markets that dominate Buenos Aires have devised an ingenious solution: They'll print their own money.
The Argentine Chinese-Owned Supermarket Chamber, or Casrech, which groups together more than 5,700 markets across the country, plans to issue tickets when their tills are short of the coins needed to provide change. Although the tickets will be redeemable for 110% of the face value on a shopper's next visit, Casrech expects the program to save its members bundles.
http://online.wsj.com/article/BT-CO-20090423-716228.html
Not only that but consider that due to the economic downturn, folks are turning in their pocket change like there's no tomorrow; the Treasury is awash in exess coinage, thus there's less need for the Mint to create new product. There may be a blank shortage and there may even be a basic materials shortage of the cupro-nickel elements that comprise clad coins, but that's not the whole story.
Things have been intriguing at the Mint practically this entire decade, with so many key dates and issues created ... there just might be a perfect storm of events coming that could lead to some real scarce issues.
Anyone read the story in Coin News last year on the shortage of steel coinage in India. It appears the steel coinage was melted, sold at a premium, and then exported to make razor blades!
I just received the following from the U.S. Mint:
Dear United States Mint Customer,
We are contacting you regarding your American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin subscription order. Effective January 12, 2009, the United States Mint implemented a new policy for the pricing of gold and platinum coins. Under this policy, pricing may vary weekly dependent upon the London Bullion Market Association’s weekly average price for precious metals. Due to these pricing fluctuations, we can no longer set standard subscription prices for this product. As a result, the American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Proof Coin will no longer be offered under the online subscription program.
You will soon receive another communication confirming the cancellation of your American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin subscription order. To ensure continuation of your American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin collection, you may purchase them through our online catalog or by telephone at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468), when they become available for sale.
The on-sale date for the 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin has not yet been determined.
You may remain up-to-date on product releases by receiving product notifications via e-mail (http://www.usmint.gov/email/index.cfm?action=newsletters). You may also visit our Schedule of Products Listing page where release dates for United States Mint coins and other products are published.
Customer Service Center
United States Mint
I just received the following from the U.S. Mint:
Dear United States Mint Customer,
We are contacting you regarding your American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin subscription order. Effective January 12, 2009, the United States Mint implemented a new policy for the pricing of gold and platinum coins. Under this policy, pricing may vary weekly dependent upon the London Bullion Market Association’s weekly average price for precious metals. Due to these pricing fluctuations, we can no longer set standard subscription prices for this product. As a result, the American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Proof Coin will no longer be offered under the online subscription program.
You will soon receive another communication confirming the cancellation of your American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin subscription order. To ensure continuation of your American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin collection, you may purchase them through our online catalog or by telephone at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468), when they become available for sale.
The on-sale date for the 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin has not yet been determined.
You may remain up-to-date on product releases by receiving product notifications via e-mail (http://www.usmint.gov/email/index.cfm?action=newsletters). You may also visit our Schedule of Products Listing page where release dates for United States Mint coins and other products are published.
Customer Service Center
United States Mint
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