I was sitting in the chair at the dentist this morning during my usual blog posting time. I hope the regulars will forgive my tardiness.

I am glad to see comments being posted about the mintage figures for the “W” uncirculated platinum American Eagle coins.

First, I will answer the inquiry about where I get the numbers. I obtain them directly from the Mint’s press office as they become available each week. I appreciate the Mint’s help in getting them to me because I know how closely these are followed, especially at the end of each year.

As far as the comparisons to the “W” proofs go, I will mention that these numbers are published each week in Numismatic News and are also published each Thursday on the www.numismaster.com Web site and the www.numismaticnews.net Web site.

The uncirculated ounce stands at 393, while the proof version currently stands at 1,560.

The half-ounce uncirculated total is 802 and the proof half ounce is 781.

For the quarter ounce, the uncirculated is 2,138 and the proof is 1,025.

The tenth-ounce uncirculated is 2,500 and the proof version is 2,224.

The four-coin set of uncirculated coins stands at 1,191 and the proof four-coin set is 1,390.

That’s it for today. Let the parsing begin.

Looking at the precious metals first thing this morning seems to indicate a fairly quiet day after election day in the United States.

Gold and silver were strongly higher yesterday. Now perhaps is the pause for reassessment as change comes to Washington, D.C.

The most conspicuous shift for coin collectors will probably be a change in the director of the U.S. Mint. Though the person in that position is ostensibly serving a five-year term, the practical matter of it is it is considered one of the plum jobs that goes to loyalists of the new President Barack Obama. Who that will be will be a great parlor game in political circles.

That means that the upcoming restrikes of the Saint-Gaudens ultra-high relief $20 coin early next year will be Mint Director Ed Moy’s valedictory legacy.

He has made a game attempt to improve American coin design. I hope his successor will continue to build on this particular legacy.

What I also hope is that the new Mint director will stop raiding the crypt of defunct American coin designs and let the talented Mint staff and Artistic Infusion Program participants come up with 21st century artwork.

I’ve been getting more calls lately about Mint Statistics. It is a welcome break from an ongoing focus on the prices of precious metals.

Some collectors are trying to figure out if certain items will have value based on scarcity due to low mintages. How novel is that?

Well, we don’t get too far away from precious metals. The questions are about the 2008 uncirculated “W” platinum American Eagle coins. These coins are sold directly to collectors for a premium price.

So far, the totals are indeed low. There have been only 326 one-ounce uncirculated “W” platinum coins sold. It is not cheap. The Mint has it priced at $1,214.95 with platinum currently trading at $825 a troy ounce.

The half-ounce sales total is at 769. It is priced at $619.95. The quarter ounce is 2,115 and it is priced at $319.95.

The tenth ounce has been especially scrutinized because it has gone off sale as an individual coin. The Mint has sold 2,538 of those.

The four-coin set has a sales total of 1,053. It is priced at $2,219.95.

The Mint will release updated sales figures this week.

It is refreshing to see a little speculation built upon projections of scarcity rather than what a coin is made of. It shows the inner collector still lurks in many of us.

Are you among those watching these numbers?

What’s the most important coin in your life? No, I am not asking what is the most expensive coin that you own, although I suppose your answer to the first question could be the second.

I have been working on a holiday gift guide insert for Numismatic News and quite naturally I hope that some readers will plan on giving coins for Christmas.

Gifts of this kind can awaken an interest in the hobby, but the giver probably doesn’t know what specific coin might do the trick.

For me, the coin that got it all started was a 1909 Lincoln cent. There is nothing special about it. It had no collector value when I found it in 1963, but it was the spark that set the blaze of my numismatic interest.

I probably would not have even looked at the date on the cent except I was going through every cent in the house as the result of a comic book ad that I had read that promised to pay good money for certain cents dated before 1940.

I wanted in on that action.

I might have been 8, but even then I knew money made the world go around and I wanted to go along for the ride.

Well, I found that cent. My mother noticed my sudden interest in coins and before you know it I was in a hobby shop buying a Lincoln cent album. She didn’t even wait for Christmas. That was fortunate for me. It was the perfect gift at the perfect time.

I still have that cent and I consider it to be the most important coin I own, though it has no significance for anyone but me.

How do you define the most important coin that you own?

The Mint issued a memo announcing availability of fractional platinum American Eagles and the tenth-ounce gold American Eagle. See below:


October 24, 2008
 
MEMORANDUM TO ALL AMERICAN EAGLE BULLION COIN AUTHORIZED PURCHASERS
 
SUBJECT:       2008–Dated Bullion Coin Products
 
On Monday, October 27, 2008, the United States Mint will resume taking orders for 2008-dated American Eagle One-Tenth Ounce Gold Bullion Coins and all sizes of American Eagle Platinum Bullion Coins.
 
Final inventory for these bullion coins is based on current in-house blank supplies and some supplies are very limited.  The United States Mint will allocate these remaining coins among the Authorized Purchasers (APs).
 
The United States Mint will use a slight modification of its standard allocation process, which is as follows:
 
Monday morning, the inventory available for sale that week will be divided into two equal pools for each bullion coin product.
 
The first pool for each bullion coin product will be allocated equally to all active American Eagle Gold One-Tenth Ounce and American Eagle Platinum APs respectively (active APs are those which have purchased American Eagle Gold One-Tenth Ounce or American Eagle Platinum Bullion Coins in the past three fiscal years).

The second pool will be allocated based on each AP’s sales performance for each bullion coin product in the last three fiscal years (e.g., an AP who purchased 30% of all American Eagle Gold One-Tenth Ounce Coins during this time will be allocated 30% of this second pool). 

Each AP will be advised via fax Monday morning (or if a government holiday, Tuesday morning) of its allocation, and will have until 3 p.m. on the following Friday to place an order for its allocated coins.

Any unordered coins remaining after 3 p.m. Friday will be put back into the pool for allocation the following Monday only until coin inventory for each product is depleted.

Included in the communication with each AP’s initial allocation on October 27 will be its allocation percentage based on sales performance.
 
Please note: The inventory for the American Eagle Platinum One-Tenth Ounce Bullion Coins is very limited and will be allocated to the Authorized Purchasers with the highest sales performances for the past three fiscal years for this product.
 
Available inventory will remain on allocation each week for the American Eagle Gold One Ounce and American Eagle Silver Bullion Coins.  
 
We will keep you informed when more information becomes available for the American Buffalo Bullion Coins.
 
Thank you for your patience and your continued support of the United States Mint Bullion Coin Program.
 
If you have any questions regarding this process, please contact me at (202) 354-7519.