2009 First Spouse Bronze Medal Set Sold Out
The 2009 First Spouse Bronze Medal Set has recently sold out at the United States Mint. This set contained all five of the First Spouse medals issued for last year.
The sets were first offered for sale at the US Mint on December 3, 2009, which means the set had a relatively short offering period of about six months.
Each set contained the 1- 5/16 inch bronze medals for Anna Harrison, Letitia Tyler, Julia Tyler, Sarah Polk, and Margaret Taylor. The designs of the medals are taken from the corresponding First Spouse Gold Coins, but with some inscriptions removed.An interesting aspect to this set was the pricing. Effective March 18, 2010, the US Mint increased the prices of the individual First Spouse medals from $3.50 to $5.50 each. However, the five medal set remained priced at $15.95, making it seem like a bargain relative to the higher individual prices.
At the time of the price increase (and currently), three of the five First Spouse medals issued during 2009 still remained available for sale individually. These are the medals for Julia Tyler, Sarah Polk, and Margaret Taylor. After the pricing change, collectors could have purchased the full five coin set for less than the cost of the three individual coins.
Compared to other bronze medals produced by the US Mint, the First Spouse medals have been offered for a more limited time period. Some of the humanitarian/cultural medals have remained available for years and some of the Presidential medals seem to be available indefinitely.
Coin Update News: Mother's Day Commemorative Coin Act
Labels: First Spouse Gold Coins
posted by Mint News Blog @ 11:18 AM
17 Comments:
Obviously for many this is a good offering from the mint. But for me personally, I have no interest in any of the First Spouse products: medals, gold coins, etc.
To each his own!
JA
This set might command a nice premium on the secondary market, since the offering period was barely over 5 months. The 2007 and 2008 sets sell for quite a lot more than issue price, and they were both available at the Mint for about a year or more as I recall.
It's so unusual for a product to be declared "sold out" when there are no tell-tale signs of that coming down the pike. There was no backorder this time. It just vanished.
It probably won't take very long for the eBay markups to begin. The sets have been selling like hot cakes today at $24.99 each, so the sellers who don't already know about the sellout will undoubtedly research why the sudden interest in the product.
I actually am interested in coins. First spouse coins not medals.
Well, some folks have to buy the medals simply because it's the only way they can afford to get the designs. The gold coins are getting farther and farther out of reach for many people. It costs several thousand dollars to buy each design in both proof and uncirculated finishes each year.
Percentage-wise, the medals can outperform the actual gold coins when it comes to figuring return on investment. Some of the coin & spouse sets have done exceptionally well in the past, and the 4-medal sets have done very well for 2007 and 2008 as well. I'm fully expecting that trend to continue through the 2009 set also, since it is probably the rarest set of them all so far.
There's money to be made in flipping a lot of stuff. I'm proud to be a numismatist. Medals are not for "real" collectors. There are plenty of nice clad coin options every year.
Its too bad the mint can't do some of their designs on silver coins. I understand the need to reduce products but some of the nice designs now end up on high dollar coins like platinum and gold unavailable to all but about 50,000or so people. The new platinum design, the gold buffalo, and the gold eagle would be pretty nifty on a half dollar size proof coin. Probably need to change the law. As pointed out bullion gets priority. Just dreaming.
It too risky to buy the gold spouses at this price. The high price and low demand for many of this coins could become very painful if gold dropped to 800$ in few years.
Don't worry, gold's not gonna drop. The gooberment is cranking out FRN's at high speed plus Euro in same boat being cranked out to bail Greece. Now the gooberment might try to make precious metal holders exchange it for FRN's like they did in 1933. Having stated this I would not necessarily buy the spouse coin as an investment. Always buy what you like and can afford as a coin collector. If you are flipper, speculator, and/or investor, good luck.
Gold will be back at $800 when "no doc" loans make a comeback and unemployment falls under 3% and everything you buy is made in the USA.
Does anyone know if the Mint plans to end the Letitia & Julia Tyler coins together (when the Jane Pierce is released) or stagger them six(6) weeks apart as they did when they originally went on sale?
Sure...an ounce gold could return to $800 (or lower), but will that lower the price of FS gold coins sold today?
The low mintages (due to the current high price of gold) should buoy the prices for these coins...especially after the series ends.
Can anyone name a gold coin, minted by the U.S. Government (in numbers less than 5000), that hasn't seen a significant price appreciation in...say, 100 years?
According to the mint's website, 2010 Proof Buffalo coins go on sale June 3.
Isn't it uncanny how the Mint always picks times when the metal price is at a high point to put new coins on sale?
Any chance of '10 proof Buff fractionals?
Unfortunately for collectors the June 3 buff release may be the low point in prices for the rest of the year. I was one of those who predicted over 1400 yellow metal at the end of the year. Others say its a bubble and the bottom will drop out. Time will tell. Place your bets.
My guess is we'll never see fractional buffalo gold again, unless the American Eagle Gold coins are discontinued. Who knows, the mint sure as hell isn't talking.
I have a feeling that once the workload of the First Spouse series tapers off that there will be more interesting offerings... I suspect that this the main reason for abandoning the collector versions of the AGE/ASE and Buffalos.
Post a Comment
Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]
<< Home