Mint News Blog

News, Information, and Commentary on US Mint Products

Friday, September 17, 2010

Grand Canyon National Park Quarter Bags and Rolls

The United States Mint will begin sales of the Grand Canyon National Park Quarter bags and rolls next week on Monday, September 20, 2010 at 12:00 Noon ET. This will represent the fourth release of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, which began this year.

The Grand Canyon Quarter reverse design features a canyon level view of the granaries above the Nankoweap Delta in Marble Canyon near the Colorado River. These granaries were used for storing food and seeds circa A.D. 500. Inscriptions surrounding the image include "Grand Canyon", "Arizona", "E Pluribus Unum" and the date "2010". The reverse was designed and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill.

The obverse of the coin features a portrait of George Washington designed by John Flanagan as it appeared on the 1932 Washington Quarter. Inscriptions include "United States of America", "In God We Trust", "Liberty", and "Quarter Dollar".

The US Mint will offer 100-coin bags of Grand Canyon National Park Quarters from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mint priced at $35.95. Tags are attached to each bag which indicate the mint of origin, name of the park, and state abbreviation.

Two roll sets will also be available, which include one 40-coin roll each from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. The rolls are packaged in special wrappers which indicate the face value of the contents, mint mark, name of the park, and state abbreviation. The sets are priced at $32.95 each.

Both the bags and rolls are intended to be available for one year from the initial release date. The bags and rolls for the previously released quarters featuring Hot Springs National Park, Yellowstone National Park, and Yosemite National Park all remain available for sale.

A launch ceremony for the Grand Canyon National Park Quarter will be held by the US Mint on September 21, 2010 at 1:30 PM MST. The ceremony will take place at the South Rim of the park, between Hopi House and Verkamp's Visitor Center. Attendees will have the opportunity to exchange currency for rolls of the new quarters at face value.

The evening before the ceremony on September 20 at 5:00 PM, United States Mint Director Edmund Moy will host a coin forum at the Grand Canyon Railway Depot at the base of El Tovar Hill.

2010 Proof Gold Eagles Update

In other news, the US Mint has confirmed the availability of 2010 Proof Gold Eagles. Details from my previous post regarding product options and limits were confirmed.

The 4 Coin Sets will be limited to 39,000 units. Individual options will be limited to 25,000 one ounce coins, 15,000 one half ounce coins, 16,000 one quarter ounce coins, and 27,000 one tenth ounce coins.

Newly available information includes the exact release date of October 7, 2010 at 12:00 Noon ET. Additionally, the US Mint has indicated that there will be no household ordering limits in place for the products.

At this time the US Mint has not made a final decision about whether the 2010-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle will be offered. This collectible uncirculated version of the coin is struck on specially burnished blanks and contains the "W" mint mark. Although the fractional versions of this offering were discontinued at the end of 2008, the US Mint had still planned to offer the one ounce size coin in future years. For 2009, the collectible uncricualted coin was canceled along with the proof version.

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35 Comments:

At September 17, 2010 at 9:26 AM , Anonymous VABEACHBUM said...

I had included some of this as part of my comments on the "Gold Price" thread about 30 minutes before Michael had published this new thread containing the updated AGE info. Now that we have a firm date, the contemplation remains:

As gold continues this consistently upward trend, I have begun to wonder about the impact this latest price surge will have on the interest in, the affordability of, and the final mintages for the Proof Gold American Eagle coins - individuals and sets.

Given the programmed mintages, is it possible that the product pricing - quickly becoming unaffordable to the steadfast majority - could curtail sales to the point that one or more of these coins / sets could become keys in their respective series? And even more in demand that the 2008 W Buffs? I see the 1/10 and 1/4 coins selling out - FAST. But what of the 1/2, the 1 oz, and the 4-coins sets?

Immediate sell out, or time will tell??

Michael - now that we have firm details on the AGE, has the mint offered any more of a hint on the ASE - or updates on the ATB 5 oz coins?

 
At September 17, 2010 at 9:57 AM , Blogger Mint News Blog said...

According to a response I received from the Mint just this week, there is still no official word on the proof American Silver Eagles or a release date for the 5 oz. ATB Silver.

I did recently come across some information that I haven't seen elsewhere on the packaging for the ATB silver:

"The America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins are packaged in semi-clear plastic tubes
(10 five-ounce coins to a tube). The tubes are then placed in vacuum-formed inserts in sealed molded plastic shipping containers. The tops of the plastic tubes and the shipping containers are imprinted with the United States Mint seal."

 
At September 17, 2010 at 10:29 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I'm surprised they don't discontinue the gold fractional proofs in effort to make it more difficult for the average collector to buy.

I could almost see it happening though. The US mint discontinues fractional eagle proofs to introduce a new "Presidential Dog Gold Coin Program." All coins where presidents who served without a dog, will depict a stolen design of an eagle from early-mid American coinage. The reverse will depict a can of ALPO dog food, with the denomination in comic sans font.

Ed Moy remarked “I think this program is essential to the nation’s history. Most people do not know that presidents had dogs. It's without a doubt the most unique program ever offered by the United States Mint. We believe this change to fractional gold proofs was necessary, because we wanted to bring originality to our coinage. However, we will still offer 50 oz American Eagle gold proofs for collectors.”

 
At September 17, 2010 at 11:03 AM , Blogger Unknown said...

As always, thanks for all of your informative articles and posts but I think you might need to check something on this article. You wrote, "This will represent the third release of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, which began this year."

If there have already been Hot Springs, Yellowstone and Yosemite, doesn't that make Grand Canyon the fourth release? Just thought you might want to change the posting, if possible, to avoid any confusion.

Thanks for all of your great work. Take care.

LL

 
At September 17, 2010 at 1:12 PM , Blogger Mint News Blog said...

LL-

Thanks- fixed it.

 
At September 17, 2010 at 1:42 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

9.17 10.29--Priceless!!!

 
At September 17, 2010 at 2:57 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

10:29, Do you know how many different breeds there will be?
I'd like to collect a sub-set of
Sheperds if possible.

 
At September 17, 2010 at 5:26 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

So would it be better from a collector stand point to buy 1 4 coin AGE set or 4 1/2 oz or 20 1/10 oz?

 
At September 17, 2010 at 7:45 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Buy every AGE proof you can afford this year as next year many may not be able to afford any yellow coins the mint produces. I think it would be a stretch to say the fractionals will last more than a couple of weeks. More than likely less than a week on the one-tenth and one-quarter. The one-tenth is least expensive and ends up in a lot of rings and necklaces so it may even be one or two day event. A lot of pent up demand out there and memories of the '08 buffalo fiasco.

 
At September 17, 2010 at 10:15 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

How do the mintage limits on these compare with mintage limits on prior years?

 
At September 18, 2010 at 6:45 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gold eagle mintages can be found on this website I found.
http://goldeagleguide.com/mintages/

It appears the 2010 mintage will be quite high. Will that limit any premium to spot gold prices in the future? I would expect a quick sellout due to pent up demand, but not sure any significant premium could be expected with this many available.

 
At September 18, 2010 at 1:50 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

This years proof AGE's appear to be mainly for the collector and jewelry people. For flippers and investors it appears a questionable purchase now but even with large mintage they should sell out fast and who knows for sure. May depend on whether or not this is a one year trial balloon. None next year and SHAZAM we have a winner. We will certainly know by this time next year. Play it safe and buy as many as you can. I am sure many dealers will. Sell your house, car, kids, wife, yourself. Do almost whatever it takes but don't rob a liquor store or sell drugs for your coin money.

 
At September 18, 2010 at 3:31 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

ONE OZ. PF AGE will be $1585 when
released.

 
At September 19, 2010 at 8:12 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

1585 $ for an AGE , Let this coin get lost !

 
At September 19, 2010 at 11:05 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Again, I bet you don't rag on Chevy that the Corvette is out of your price range when you can only afford a Cobalt. It's gold not zinc covered copper. If you can't afford an ounce then maybe a 1/10 would do. If you can't swing a 1/10th then maybe you should stop complaining and stick to searching through your pocket change. You got bigger problems then the price of 1 oz AGE. Nuff said.

 
At September 19, 2010 at 3:48 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

The official mint press release says that the 1/2 OZ proof eagle will be limited to 5,000 - not 15,000 as stated in the article.

Which is it? The mint says 5,000!!

 
At September 19, 2010 at 4:18 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

http://www.usmint.gov/pressroom/index.cfm?action=press_release&ID=1162

I think someone at the mint can't type correctly. If you do the math the press release is wrong.

PG2 Product Limit should be 15000
PG4 Mintage Limit should be 66000

 
At September 19, 2010 at 10:59 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Why would anyone bring their coin to a jeweller to be edge scraped, holed, or otherwise ruined. I thought that was a fad 60-120 years ago ?

 
At September 20, 2010 at 8:59 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Just received my Buchanan Liberty proof and unc from UPS. These will go to my grandchild. Would it be more value 20-50 years down the line if I leave the package unopened?

 
At September 20, 2010 at 9:05 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Gold hits another record high, over $1281!

Pop! Pop! Pop! Go the historical records and the champagne bottles!

 
At September 20, 2010 at 9:50 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

To 8:59 am,

I'd open up that package if I were you, just to verify the coins are actually in there. There have been horror stories before of gold coins being missing inside the wooden boxes, or also of incorrect items being shipped.

Just to make sure your grandchild doesn't get a nasty surprise 20-50 years down the line, you'd better make sure all is well. That's just my advice, you can take it or leave it.

 
At September 20, 2010 at 11:09 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Poop on Presidential dogs. I want a gold commemorative of Teddy Roosevelt with his pet Badger sitting on his shoulder.

 
At September 20, 2010 at 12:33 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Wonder how many Buchanan Liberties were sold last week? I'm guessing close to 2,000. Any other guesses?
If total sales are over 10,000 look for a quick sell out. If less than 1,000 were sold last week, flippers will be very disappointed.

 
At September 20, 2010 at 12:35 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Stock market is going up so:
Gold may go pop, pop, pop...

 
At September 20, 2010 at 2:48 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I get a real big kick out of these financial "experts" mainly on tv. None of them had a friggin' idea what a "bubble" was a few years ago and failed to see anything comin' in 2008. Now all of a sudden they all see a gold "bubble" coming. What a bunch of dumbcacas.

 
At September 20, 2010 at 7:37 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Stock market is going up so:
Gold may go pop, pop, pop...


Credit card debt HIGH
Student loan debt HIGH
Foreclosures still reaching record HIGHs
ARMs still resetting
Unemployment still HIGH
Unemployment duration HIGH
Food stamps at record HIGHs
Bank failures HIGH
Banks at risk >800
Pension Fund Ponzi
Medicaire, Medicaid, Soc Sec, ...

I'm sure I've missed something, but...

Yes, we're saved!! The market is going up!!!

 
At September 20, 2010 at 8:48 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Buchanan Liberty UNC on backorder!
Will this change to "waitlist" soon?

 
At September 20, 2010 at 9:24 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

OFF TOPIC: Liberty Rankings (IMHO):

Obverse: 3 way tie: Jeff, Van B. and Buchanan (Van B. UNC may actually be my favorite). Jackson last, but still classic.

Reverse: 2 way tie: Jeff, Jackson followed by Van B. with Buchanan last.

Overall the Jefferson Proof is my favorite coin. Too bad about the high mintage....

Look forward to tomorrow's sales numbers for the Buchanan.

ON TOPIC: The Grand Canyon quarter is another example of overkill to a rediculous "circus" coinage that makes folks not want to keep up with all the junk! Give me back my Eagle reverse of the quarter....oh I guess in another eleven years this should happen :(

 
At September 20, 2010 at 9:53 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I think the Van Buren UNC has the lowest mintage of any Liberty type. The Buchanan UNC may be a lower mintage "sleeper" if it sells out before the proof.

 
At September 20, 2010 at 9:54 PM , Blogger Unknown said...

Just wondering what people's thoughts are on the silver 5 oz ATB'S

Here are mine.

1. I think it will be extremely difficult for the mint to pull of ms70 quality coins due to the large surface area...maybe an ms69 will be the new ms70 on these.

2. I think they will be very nice looking coins because it would take a large surface area to portray a park and I think designs always look good on silver.

3. I think the mintage is extremely low on these coins and they will sell out very quickly for a large premium.

4. PM's are in high demand right now and with gold going through the roof I think it will put more upward pressure on silver. So I would expect silver to return a higher percentage return than gold.

5. My last thought or I should say question is how can I buy these quickly at a reasonable premium? I don't want to be taken to the cleaners on these bullion coins and I feel like the home networks are going to gobble all of them up right from the get go and there is no way I will purchase anything from a shopping channel.

 
At September 21, 2010 at 4:41 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

John,
I have a nice 5 oz Dragon, but storage/ display is a problem. I'm gonna skip this tribute to Circuis coinage. My one ounce and fractional dragons actually look nicer. Too much background on the 5oz.

 
At September 22, 2010 at 11:07 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

i got my grand canyon np quarter today at the philadelphia mint. they look real nice. when i gave a quarter to somebody who is not a coin collector, they were not sure which way was up/down on the reverse side.

 
At September 22, 2010 at 2:57 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

That's funny, since all they had to do was see which way had the writing right side up! :)

 
At October 1, 2010 at 6:44 PM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

So there is going to be 39,000 four coin sets plus the mintage of 15,000 1/2 ounce? Those are going to be high mintage numbers for a 1/2 proof.

 
At October 14, 2010 at 6:32 AM , Anonymous Anonymous said...

I recieved the gold proofs yesterday and I'm quite disappointed. The die impressions are weak. There's almost no detail in the reverse eagles. On the obverse the capital building is almost not there. I compared the coins to previous proofs and there is a big difference in quality. What happened? Did the mint use old dies?

 

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