Mint News Blog

News, Information, and Commentary on US Mint Products

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

2009 Lincoln Cent Mintages


The final mintage figures for all of the 2009 Lincoln Cents are now available. The "Presidency" design has come in with some surprisingly low numbers since apparently no additional coins were produced during the month of December.

When the US Mint had updated their coin production figures to reflect production for November 2009, they had indicated that production of 2009 Lincoln Cents was still ongoing. It appears that this was not correct as the figures remains unchanged. None of the coin production figures for other denominations have changed either, suggesting that no coins were produced for circulation during the month of December.

The mintages for all 2009 Lincoln Cents are shown below:

Philadelphia Denver Total
Birthplace 284,400,000 350,400,000 634,800,000
Formative Years 376,000,000 363,600,000 739,600,000
Professional Life 316,000,000 336,000,000 652,000,000
Presidency 129,600,000 198,000,000 327,600,000
Total 1,106,000,000 1,248,000,000 2,354,000,000

The production numbers for the final design show a sharp drop from previous levels and create a new mintage low. The 2009-P "Presidency" Lincoln Cent had just 129,600,000 coins produced. This number is scant in comparison to the mintages for Lincoln Cents over the past several decades.

Except for this year, every date and mint mark combination for the Lincoln Cent series since 1975 has had a mintage in the billions. The lowest mintage cent with the Memorial reverse was the 1968-S at 258,270,000. To find a mintage lower than the 2009-P "Presidency" Lincoln Cent, you have to go back to the 1955-S Lincoln Cent which had a mintage of 44,610,000.

The mintage of the 2009-P Presidency Cent is sufficiently low to generate some excitement about the coin and probably drive up prices. Also, the coin's status as the recent mintage low is likely to be retained for the foreseeable future. During 2009, the already low production of cents had to be divided amongst four different designs. This is something that will not be repeated in 2010 and beyond when a static design will be used.

The United States Mint continues to sell two roll sets for the 2009 Lincoln Cent "Presidency" design on their website. These are priced at $8.95 for the set with an ordering limit of five per household still in place with no ordering limits. As of the most recent sales report, the Mint has sold 215,709 of the sets.

Rolls of the 2009 Lincoln Cent Presidency design can also be found on eBay. Recently, sealed 50 roll boxes of the Philadelphia Mint coins have sold for around $150 each with boxes of the Denver coins selling for about $75. Here are the current eBay auctions for 50 roll boxes of the Presidency design.
Coin Update News:
Latest US Mint Sales Report

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48 Comments:

At January 13, 2010 at 11:47 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This link tells ya what all the other lincoln cent mintages are....just for comparison to this years.

http://www.mountainviewcoins.com/mintage-US-coins/mintage-US-coins-lincoln-cents.php

 
At January 13, 2010 at 12:20 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

lp4 and lp3 are still avaiable on the mints web site. It appears the household limit is no longer in force.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 12:32 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just order some more of the LP4 pennies. There is no limit, I just called the mint and they have Removed the house hold limit. I order an additional 10 rolls.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 12:58 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I ordered 11 sets of LP4's myself. No order limit is in place. I figured what the heck, it's only about $100. I've lost more than that on scratch-off lottery tickets! :)

With the low-mintage news, these roll sets will likely sell out in a hurry. I'll bet there won't be 300,000 of them sold, either. I'm thinking this one will be cut of at no more than 250,000 sets, maybe even 225,000. The Mint might not have saved as many for the final design since the third one wasn't selling as fast. Believe it or not, there IS a method to their madness!

 
At January 13, 2010 at 1:03 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

With the low mintage news I see no reason why the lp4 rolls should not sky rocket in price....correct me if I am wrong?

 
At January 13, 2010 at 1:05 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

No one really knows what will happen of course. If the past is any indication, this news will make chances good for some short-term appreciation at least. However, don't put all your eggs in one basket if you can't really afford to. Just because the Mint allows you to order 99 sets in one order doesn't mean you SHOULD.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 1:13 PM , Blogger Mint News Blog said...

I didn't notice that the US Mint lifting the ordering limits. This must have happened recently. Updated post.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 1:14 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just ordered 25 sets....I like the scratch off analogy!

 
At January 13, 2010 at 1:23 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I never paid attention before, but it almost appears that there was NEVER an order limit in place for the Presidency roll set. Under the "Ordering Limits" section below the description, it simply states there are no order limits. The same section on the Professional Life product page states household limits were removed on November 19th.

If they truly were available with no ordering limits all along, it kind of looks like people were losing faith in the Lincoln Cent roll set program. Personally, I still think they will all be good down the road, if for no other reason than the completeness factor. Collectors will want all four sets, so all four should remain in demand and command a premium.

The Formative Years set isn't doing so hot right now, but prices still seem to be in the neighborhood of issue price, just on the wrong side of it a bit.

However, I think the Presidency set will settle at about halfway of the level that the LP1's sell for, or around $40 a set. The higher number of sets will be counterbalanced by the much lower mintage of the coins themselves.

That's my feeling, anyway. I'm backing it up with my wallet.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 1:41 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The rolls selling out for real instead of simply being taken off-sale and called "sold out" should help too.

I wonder how many of them are left?

 
At January 13, 2010 at 2:02 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's interesting how quite a few 2009 Lincoln "Presidency" P Mint Boxes magically have now started coming onto EBay for sale. Maybe not as scarce as some had thought. The low mintage news will force those to sell but will that supply burn out quickly or just keep on coming?

Jim L.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 2:06 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I still think that the uncirc sets with the satin finish copper pennies will the the big winner in the future. With probably less than a million sets in the end, it really puts it as the weak link in collecting the entire 2009 cent set. I think it will rise significantly after it sells out of course. It should be fun in the coming months to see just how 2009 treated us in the numismatic world.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 10:11 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is great news for the presidency ceremony rolls.There were very few people at the ceremony that day and these rolls were the P mint rolls.Any of the stamp cancelled First Day of Issue rolls from the last ceremony should go way up on the secondary market.The boxes are going high and the ceremony rolls will be more rare because a head count reported at the cancellation location only reported as many as 300 people who showed up to have these rolls cancelled first day of issue.Look for a huge increase in these rolls as most of the flippers are all out of stock now.

 
At January 13, 2010 at 10:58 PM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Off topic, but I just posted a comment on the Northern Mariana quarters blog entry concerning coin cover albums that I've bought and tried out for storing my coin covers. Give that a go if you're interested in good first day coin cover albums... or at least, my opinion concerning said albums.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 2:13 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

There are roughly 2.2 million 2009 Proof Lincoln Cent 4 Coin Sets. They come from about 1.4 million Mint Proof Sets and over 600,000 Silver Proof Sets, and 200,000 of the Lincoln Cent Proof Sets.

The Uncirculated Satin Finish sets are almost at 700,000. This set includes the 8 cents that are Copper, but with the satin finish.

It would appear that with only 700,000 sets sold, the Uncirculated Copper Satin Finish Pennies will be the real sleeper of 2009 in the long run. I believe that these Uncirculated sets will sell for over $100 in the next year or two.

At $28 a set, everyone should consider grabbing a few more sets. This is just my opinion. Thanks.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 5:56 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This is an exact repeat of what happened with the John Tyler rolls... everyone will now buy the LP4 thinking it too will increase in value, and then it won't and everyone loses money! Did you guys forget this summert all ready?!?!

I learned my lesson, the LP4's will not increase in value any time soon.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 6:09 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

With Mintages this low on the LP4 series Im almost positive there will be a premium for these rolls once they sell out. The difference been these and they Tyler rolls is the fact that the Lincoln Pennies are much more collected and there is a much larger demand!

 
At January 14, 2010 at 6:26 AM , Anonymous Brad said...

The Uncirculated set with the satin finish copper pennies MIGHT be a winner, provided the Mint does not leave them on sale until this summer when the 2010 set comes out. If they leave it on sale that long and sales top 1,000,000 units, it will hurt the value. There will be no perception of scarcity to collectors, and perception is a VERY important factor in value.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 7:38 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I looked on ebay for the first day ceremony rolls of LP4 Ps that were stamp cancelled and I could only find one roll.That roll had the Black thirty day cancel on it.That meant that the rolls could have been cancelled up to thirty days after the ceremony and it may not even be from the ceremony.I did see other rolls as soon as the ceremony was over that had red National Capital USPS stamp cancels or black Union Station USPS stamp cancels.But those have been gone for quite a while on ebay.Looks like they may be a tough roll to find and the prices may be high if you can even find them.I'm pretty sure that these rolls will be worth far more then the LP4 box from the mint.The TPGs only accept Official USPS stamp cancels on the rolls to have First day of issue designations on the slabs.Those black thirty day stamps with Lincoln on them are not officially accepted because they may not be from the ceremony.Even the First day of issue slabs are starting to dwindle.If anyone finds the rolls I'm describing on ebay let me know.Because I've looked every where and can't find any official FDI rolls.Michael, can you look into this to clarify that the thirty day stamps cancels are not accepted.The designer of those stamp cancels even signs them which I think is wrong.So many people buy those rolls thinking they have a ceremony roll.But it very well may be a roll from a fed box up to thirty days after the ceremony had ended.I have heard only an official USPS stamp cancel is a true ceremony roll.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 8:35 AM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Do note that the coin exchange ceremony for the Presidency roll was in a completely different location from where the official ceremony's cancellation event happened. The former was at the front of the capitol near the Grant statue, and the latter was at the Postal museum. Many people who got rolls at the ceremony went to a number of local or not so local post offices to cancel them (which includes Union Station).

If its a USPS stamp with the November 12th date (regardless of which post office did it), then its an official first day roll.

However, only the cancellations given out at the Postal Museum (I think) were the OFFICIAL ceremonial first day cancellation stamp.

Back when the Professional rolls came out, I had them canceled by a local post office in Northern Virginia on the day of release and they were considered first day. While definitely worth something, they aren't as prized as those stamped at the official ceremony in Illinois.

None the less, I don't see these rolls going for any higher premium than they did when they first came out. If you look at completed auctions, there is one roll that went for $10 and a set of 4 that went for $25. Definitely a premium, but nothing extraordinary.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 9:22 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just looked up the values for the 1955 S cent and 1968 S cent. Those had very low mintages, and yet the fair value market of those coins isn't that much. Considering that a lot of those were put into commerce vs the 2009 which many are being saved. Obviously, supply is only one component to price. I think that the 2009 cents in whatever version they take... proof, unc/satin, unc, will have a minor pop in value and drop way down in a couple of years.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 9:31 AM , Blogger Lasloo said...

I agree.

Too much hoarding of the 2009 pennies will make them not as valuable over time.

The only exception possibly being the copper P & D s.

But as a previous poster stated, the longer the 2009 uncirculated sets stay around for purchasing, the less valuable it and the copper P & D s will become.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 9:40 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The 1955 s rolls sell for around 20 to 25 dollars a piece...I'd take that even if I do have to wait 50 years....although, I don't think you'll have to wait that long. I think for many americans, the economy and housing downturn have taken away from numismatics. After all this crisis is over, I think people will begin to realize that there were 4 unique pennies produced in 09....just a thought.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 9:46 AM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Per circulating coins, the real winners for 2009 will be the nickels and dimes, specifically the Denver mint ones.

I was filling out my PCGS registry the other day, and surprised that there were absolutely NO 2009 D-mint nickel or dimes (with one probably misentered exception) registered with PCGS yet.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 10:47 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Regarding the 2009 Mint set and how long it remains on sale...don't forget the 2008 Mint set stayed on sale until 2/25/09 with total sales of 745,464. The 2009 has sold 687,231 so far.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 11:45 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lasloo,

I think you may be wrong about the price of the ceremony rolls rising.Just because one sold for ten before the news of the lowest mintage.Now the news is out that mintage is the lowest.Look at the Harrison's and see what happened with them with the low mintage news and sell out.I look for these official ceremony rolls to go up sharply.There are far less of them out there due to the low turn out at the ceremony.I was at the ceremony and only 4 to 500 people combined were at both locations for exchange.The 30 day stamp is NOT official.That stamp could have gone on any of the rolls that came from fed boxes not associated with the ceremony.The official USPS stamp cancels on the other hand ARE official.And the only two stamp cancels used at the ceremony were the one that is a red round with National Capital Station, USPS, Washington DC,and the zip code on it which encompass the rounded edge of the cancel.Note that the 2009 was upside down on that stamp cancel as well with the date directly on top of the upside down 2009.The other was at the Union Station P.O. which is black with Union Station straight over top of the full date which is over top of the Washington,DC all going straight across inside the black circle.It is true that many may have gone to other P.O.s to have them cancelled.But the two rolls I speak of were officially from that ceremony.That thirty day stamp was created by a designer who continued to stamp cancel any rolls brought to him to cancel with thirty days of the ceremony.So they are BOGUS rolls in my opinion even if they are signed by the stamp cancel designer.If there is one with a thirty day stamp cancel and it is accompanied with the USPS stamp cancel it IS real.But anything less is questionable.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 11:57 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't believe we will see any where close to the 300 dollar premium the first stamp cancelled LP1 rolls received.But I do think these rolls will increase in value quite a bit.I bet all the flippers that sold them early had wished they would have waited for this news to sell them.Because now you can't find them any where and we all know what happens with scarce coins.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 12:27 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is a listing for four rolls that have that 30 day stamp cancel on them.These rolls may or may not be from the ceremony.That thirty day stamp cancel is just that.A stamp cancel that could have been done on a roll from a fed box and Not a ceremony roll.And this seller wants 199.99 for four rolls.Notice that the stamp isn't even canceled but it covers up part of the cancellation.I would not even pay .50 for those rolls myself.Here is the ebay listing number.
170428686602
BUYERS BEWARE of this possible scam.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 12:52 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I hope the Mint cuts off the 2009 Uncirculated Coin Set at 700,000 units, but I'm afraid they won't. I'm so afraid they will simply leave it on sale until the day the 2010 set goes on sale, and then declare it sold out at that time. That kind of "sellout" means nothing to us. We want the kind that we have to fight over, man! :)

 
At January 14, 2010 at 3:59 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

HERE IS THE REAL DEAL OF THE 2009 P PRESIDENCY STAMP CANCELLED ROLLS AT A REASONABLE PRICE FOR SUCH A LOW MINTAGE.
EBAY LISTING NUMBER

220540817094

 
At January 14, 2010 at 4:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I saw that ebay deal. Honestly, what a waste of money. In a few years who will care about the post mark on these things.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 5:27 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Obviously not you.But other that collect them will.

 
At January 14, 2010 at 9:29 PM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Well, tell us if you get any sales on that 2009 presidency canceled roll. So far, in the completed list... I'm still not seeing anything that proves that this is a sleeper yet. Would love to be proven wrong.

One nit picky thing though... I (as well as a few others) aren't big fans of ads/auctions stating that something is LP4 and the product NOT being the two roll Mint set. LP4 is the Mint product number for that two roll set... its not short hand for anything related to the Presidency design of the Lincoln cent.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 9:56 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Only 2.35 billion (total) minted? With everyone and their brother putting these away en mass, can you say "Beanie Baby" of the numismatic world? The folks that are going to make the most money on these are the ones feeding the frenzy right now. When people realize just how common they are the prices will drop.

Buy what you need for your collections at the fairest price you can find (which should be the mint price) because you like the coins. If your hoarding these in the hopes of paying for juniors future college tuition, I feel you might be disappointed.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 11:00 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

129.6M - I have trouble beleiving this number.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 1:18 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

well that's the number unless the mint made a mistake posting the number.....hmnnn come to think of it I guess that is quite possible with the mint as they were somehow way off on the 2008 platinum uncirculated coins.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 5:43 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wow Lasloo you are a bit nit picky aren't you.the last time I checked LP4 is the design of that series.But hey any keywords on ebay gets you noticed faster and pictures say it all.I'm sure your not to dumb to notice the difference between the picture of a Mint box and the picture of a Stringer and son FDI roll.But if you are I would be careful what you buy at all in numismatics.Just food for thought for the NIT PICKY ONES.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 7:39 PM , Blogger Lasloo said...

I'm not usually obsessive compulsive or picky, but the LP4 thing does raise my temperature a little bit.

The 2009 Lincoln Presidency design is NOT NOT NOT designated LP4. There is no literature anywhere that designated the Presidency design the label 'LP4'. Does PCGS or NGC or any of the other TPG's label their 2009 Presidency cent slabs with LP4?? The term LP4 is the product code for the Mint Presidency two-roll set. Period.
Finito. Done.

As an example, people do not sell Northern Mariana quarters on Ebay with the R68 moniker even though that's the product code for the two-roll Mint set.

Why don't they do that? Because if you're searching for the Mint two roll box set on Ebay, you should be able to type in R68 in the Coin section search and have a good chance of getting ONLY a listing of the Mint two roll sets.

Similarly, if you're searching for the Presidency two roll box set on Ebay, you 'should' be able to put in LP4. But no, instead you get every variation of the Presidency coin regardless and independent of what the actual label was intended to denote. Its confusing and misleading. There has been instances (not to me but to someone I know) where someone is selling a P & D set of 2009 Birthplace Lincoln cents. And all of a sudden, there is a burst of bids that bring it to $50 or more. And why is that? Cause they stated it was LP1 and stock photo. People were assuming (rightly in my opinion) that it was the white-box Mint two roll seat of 2009 Birthplace cents. And after they get it in the mail, and see what they really got... you can imagine the anger.

LP4, LP3, LP2, LP1 denote the Mint two roll sets of the 4 Lincoln cent presidency designs.

Back to your regularly scheduled program.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 8:36 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

For the collector's value sake of the 2009 Lincoln Cent you have three conditions to facture in #1 it is a low mintage. #2 it is the last mintage of a reverse design that will forever change. #3 This is the 200th anniversary of the Lincoln cent, what better way to celebrate it then own a coin whose design marks his presidency. Class adjourned.

 
At January 15, 2010 at 10:03 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I just picked up some LP4 rolls at the bank today....just kidding Lasloo

 
At January 16, 2010 at 6:57 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

WOW, The 2009 LINCOLN CENT COIN & CHRONICLES Set is doing very well right now. I shall not sale mine !

 
At January 16, 2010 at 7:40 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Lasloo if someone is using a stock photo and selling stringer and sons rolls under LP1,2,3,or4.Then they are being misleading.I agree.But the photo of that seller selling the FDI rolls clearly shows the picture of the roll.I don't see any big deal about him using that key word just to get more exposure.I think you are taking things out of context with you pickyness.So simmer down and realize all he is trying to do is share a great product that he took the time to get for collectors that are looking for those rolls.I personally believe that FDI rolls will go up in value due to the extremely lower mintage.I think the seller even lowered his price after your comments.I think that says a lot for him as a seller.

 
At January 16, 2010 at 4:19 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey Lasloo,

If you like getting you dander up on the LP4 designation.I thought you might like seeing this listing.this guy claims to have LP5s LOL.Now stop dogging people out about using a simple keyword to sell an item on ebay.How many people do you think key in LP5 when looking on ebay LOL.At least this igmo of a seller is showing a picture.I guess it takes all kinds any more.But I still think the LP4 design FDI rolls are a good buy for future investing do to the lowest mintage.Ebay Listing below to raise Lasloo's blood pressure LOL
320472790982

 
At January 16, 2010 at 6:46 PM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Believe me, I know what I what I sound like when I complain about the LP4 designation. I am usually the one to shake my head when others get upset over 'trivial' things. I knew I was going to get crap. But sometimes, an occasional little thing in life gets at you and you find that you just can't stop it from continuing to annoy the living heck out of you.

None the less, using LP1 to describe the Birthplace Lincoln penny regardless of it being in a Mint two roll set or not started sometime after the REAL LP1 Mint two roll set sold out and the prices of those boxes went sky high. I think novice numismatists just assumed that LP1 was some kind of inside slang for that design. I'm sure a lot of people new to coins see some of the Ebay ads with Mint product codes in the title and have no idea what it is referring to. So, I understand how it started.

But I'll say it again, and leave it alone for now... LP1, LP2, LP3, LP4 ARE NOT designations for the four different 2009 Lincoln designs. They are Mint product codes. And it is confusing and misleading to use them in any other context ESPECIALLY when selling an item online where Mint product codes are routinely used to describe the Mint products being resold.

 
At January 17, 2010 at 8:36 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

It is largely referred to as the design regardless of what you think of the product code Lasloo.You are simply being to picky about this.If a seller uses the LP1,2,3,4 to get awareness of their product.Then they should show a picture plainly showing the type of product it is.If they use a stock photo.Then that is against ebay rules and regs.But if they are showing a picture of the product.Then it's clear to see what that product is.I don't see you getting up set about someone saying Harrison rolls without a product code when it is a US Mint box.So I do think you are being a bit picky here.But I think my point is well made and I will also leave this trivial discussion alone myself.

 
At January 17, 2010 at 3:08 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I still wish they had done FDCCs for the 2009 Lincoln Cents, and used the Lincoln Commemorative stamps issued by the USPS. The Mint blew a good opportunity.

 
At January 17, 2010 at 7:09 PM , Blogger Lasloo said...

Anonymous 3:08PM,

I agree. I also wished they had made FDCCs for the 2009 Lincoln cents. Not only did they do the state quarters and the Presidential dollars, but the Mint also did it for the 2004-2006 new nickel designs as well as the 2000 Sacagawea.

And thats why I am starting to believe that they will not have FDCCs for the new America the Beautiful Quarters, even though these are perfect coin designs for the type of FDCCs they have made in the past. I just don't think its been popular enough for them to feel like its worth making the effort.

It does seem they will continue making FDCCs for the rest of the presidential dollar coins. This is possibly simply to finish a tangential product series they had begun. I know many were angered by the cancellation of other small mintage tangential products like the Presidential Dollar Signature Series, the state spoons, etc.

 
At January 17, 2010 at 8:35 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

That would have been nice to have the FDDCs in the Lincolns.But At least someone had the presence of mind to get the rolls from the ceremonies stamp cancelled.Just goes to show that there would have been a market because of all the FDDCs rolls that have sold.I have noticed a increase in price of the LP4 design rolls since the news of the low mintage came out.Maybe it's just taking time for everyone to find out since the series is over.

 

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