The "Buzz" Coin Blog with Dave Harper

Eagles, no; Buffaloes, yes
Posted by Dave

No proof one-ounce American Eagle gold or silver collector coins will be produced in 2009 by the U.S. Mint.

The bad news, cleared for release at noon Eastern Daylight time Oct. 6, doesn’t end there.

There will also be:
• No “W” mintmarked uncirculated silver American Eagle collector coins,
• No proof fractional gold American Eagles,
• No “W” uncirculated one-ounce gold American Eagles (the fractionals of this were killed at the end of last year),
• No Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set, which would include a “W” silver American Eagle, and
• No platinum American Eagle bullion coins.

But the Mint also gives as well as takes.

Perhaps the most surprising new issues coming are the probable Oct. 15 release of the 2009 gold Buffalo bullion coin and the Oct. 29 release of the proof collector version.

Fractional gold American Eagle bullion coins in tenth-ounce, quarter-ounce and half-ounce weights are scheduled tentatively for release Dec. 3.

A proof one-ounce platinum American Eagle also is scheduled tentatively for release Dec. 3.

The Mint stresses the word “tentatively.”

It is still battling to supply the market with American Eagle bullion coins, which are mandated by law whereas the collector versions are not.

“Because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins, the United States Mint suspended production of 2009 proof and uncirculated versions of these coins,” it says.

Even though the rationing of the bullion gold and silver American Eagles ended June 15, acquiring adequate supplies of blanks has been an ongoing struggle for the Mint. In light of this, it might perhaps be surprising that the Mint would bother to produce the gold Buffalo coins this year at all.

Those with a lawyer’s eye will spot the exception in the language here: “All available 22-karat gold and silver bullion blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle gold and American Eagle silver bullion coins programs as mandated by Public Law 99-185 and Public Law 99-61, respectively.”

The one-ounce Buffalo gold bullion coins and collector coins are struck on 24-karat gold planchets.

Once again the Mint holds out the hope that the collector coins suspended this year will be returned to production, but now in 2010, as it works “diligently with current and potential blank suppliers to increase the supply of bullion coins blanks.”

Tuesday, October 06, 2009 5:00:43 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Too good to be true?
Posted by Dave

Sometimes I feel old. I wrote a column about this four years ago when I became eligible to join the American Association of Retired Persons, or AARP.

I received a few e-mails from my contemporaries who said they felt the same way.
Time just moves too fast.

A handwritten letter I received yesterday returns me to this theme. It came from a reader of my Class of ’63 column in Numismatic News.

He suspects I am seriously understating my age and running a very old photo of myself.

“Every week when I look at your photo, you remind me of Q. David Bowers who going back for years always had a young photo of himself with his ads.”

Now being compared to professional numismatist and writer Q. David Bowers for any reason is a compliment. He is a one-man industry. I wish his resume were a secret because it makes the rest of us look lazy.

Bowers, he noted, eventually had to change the photo in his ads. Bowers has been in the business since 1953 and photo updates are required from time to time in such a lengthy career.

The letter writer expects me to do the same.

“Let’s see what you really look like for a change.”

He adds in a postscript: “I’m 84 years old, about your age, maybe?”

Tuesday, October 06, 2009 2:08:40 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, October 05, 2009

September Mint production drops
Posted by Dave

Mint production in the month of September ran at the lowest level since March I discovered after I turned my computer on this morning and began checking around various Web sites.

The overall September total of 181.96 million coins is somewhat larger than the March total of 165.04 million.

After the March drop, production recovered to roughly 350 million coins per month.
The Mint tries to minimize monthly production fluctuations, but September was the end of the fiscal year, so perhaps there was less flexibility.

September cent production actually fell below the March total of 98 million coins to 93.2 million pieces.

For the first time in this year’s quarter program, the output of the current design was almost identical to the prior one.

The quarter honoring the U.S. Virgin Islands has an overall mintage of 82 million split evenly between the Denver and Philadelphia mints. Neither figure fell below the 39.6 million Denver output of the prior American Samoa design. That retains the title of having the lowest mintage of the 2009 quarters.

Combined, there are just slightly more American Samoa quarters as the total is 82.2 million.

What this means is the two 41 million totals from Denver and Philadelphia for the U.S. Virgin Islands share the title of being the second lowest mintages for any 2009 quarter.
We now await the production of the Northern Mariana Islands quarter to see if the low mintage distinction will be shifted from the Denver American Samoa quarter, or if it will retain the honor.

No dimes and no nickels were produced in September, but a small number of half dollars raised the annual total so far to 3.6 million coins, up by 200,000 pieces produced at Denver from the August total of 3.4 million, or 1.7 million each at Denver and Philadelphia.

Even though the numbers are on the low side, distribution patterns around the country seem to be improving and giving collectors the impression of greater availability than was the case in the first part of the year.

Monday, October 05, 2009 2:20:22 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Friday, October 02, 2009

Buy a Braille set not talked about?
Posted by Dave

Collectors have been very good about ignoring the Louis Braille commemorative silver dollar. It is not a topic of frequent discussion. For all I know, it is not a topic that generates any discussion among collectors at all.

That hasn’t stopped the Mint from selling 188,377 since sales began March 26. That’s not a lot. It is less than half of the 400,000 maximum authorized by Congress, but then it is not exactly an extremely low total either.

But the Mint is taking another shot at injecting a little excitement into the program Oct. 8 when it will begin to sell what it calls the Braille Education Set.

There is only one coin involved, so I don’t know why the Mint chose to call it a set, though it does note that the coin comes in a tri-fold binder that includes educational material and readable Braille.

The part that might generate the excitement is the 25,000 maximum the Mint has placed on this offering and the one-per-household order limit when sales start a noon Eastern Daylight Time on the first day of issue.

Will that be enough?

So far collectors have purchased 122,661 proofs. They have taken an additional 45,326 uncirculated coins sold individually and another 20,390 uncirculated coins housed in a special easy-open capsule, making the combined sales number 65,716.

That is actually quite a good number for the uncirculateds because most programs see the proofs outsell the uncirculateds by 3-1 or so. This program is 2-1. If the Braille Education Set sells out, the ratio drops to 1.35-1.

Will it happen?

We’ll see.

It would be an interesting footnote in commemorative history, but even this probably won’t get too many collectors to talk about it.

Friday, October 02, 2009 2:10:35 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Thursday, October 01, 2009

Year of Lincoln nears its end
Posted by Dave

“Lincoln’s on the front page again,” colleague Debbie Bradley declared as we were wrapping up work yesterday on Numismatic News.

“It’s the year of Lincoln,” I replied.

Indeed it is, but 2009 is now in its final calendar quarter.

While it is not time to actually start winding down with Lincoln stories, it is time to start thinking about that.

We have the release of the fourth cent design coming up in a Nov. 12 ceremony in Washington, D.C. Its theme is the Lincoln presidency and the design depicts the unfinished dome of the Capitol building, which was under construction as the Civil War raged.

There will also be a new Lincoln cent reverse in 2010. The final design will be unveiled then.

If cents are released through the banking system in a fairly normal manner in 2010, that will be pretty much it for the overall Lincoln cent effect on the hobby. If it is again a slow release, well then the year of Lincoln will turn into the 14 or 15 months of Lincoln.

Fortunately, Lincoln cents have always been popular in my collecting life. Even when silver dollars eclipsed them for a time in the 1980s, it was less a sign of Lincoln cent weakness than it was of silver dollar strength.

While I wish no one the continued frustration of delayed collecting hopes, I would not be sad to see more attention paid to the Lincoln cent.

The cent was my first coin album and I will always take an interest in it.

I remember an old TV show in the 1960s called, “The Second Hundred Years.”
That is a very apt name for the period we have entered for the Lincoln cent.

Thursday, October 01, 2009 2:02:02 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Wednesday, September 30, 2009

Arm wrestling opinions and computers
Posted by Dave

Will the coin hobby follow the rest of American life and sink into endless 50-50 opinion splits?

I don’t know, but it seems like more and more aspects of life end up with an inability to reach a consensus. I hope that never happens among collectors.

My first real experience of trying to do something with half for and half against was in the Lake Iola Lake District. In the 1990s there were a number of closely divided votes at the annual meeting on chemical treatment to control weeds. In a close vote, it was decided not to treat. The following year in a close vote the policy was reversed and it was decided to treat. In the third year in another close vote the policy was reversed again.

You get the idea. How do you represent the will of the people when that will changes so often?

That was the challenge. We got through it.

This morning I wanted to get this blog posted. My computer was saying no. Fortunately, I think I have prevailed finally.

I am sure you can identify other aspects of life from elections to neighborhood events.

The hobby of coin collecting for me has always been an oasis because on most issues views are fairly similar.

Collecting? We’re for it.

Details? Well, there can be a variety of opinions, but so far not divisively so.

I hope that never changes.

Wednesday, September 30, 2009 2:33:03 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Don't you just love the billing statements?
Posted by Dave

I received my monthly credit card statement in the mail yesterday. In these tough economic times, I am sure others are doing what I do in scrutinizing each bill carefully for personal budgetary reasons but also for the possibility of fraud.

While I do not expect to see any fraudulent entries, you never know. Just among the members of the numismatic group that sit in my little office area, there are interesting stories to tell.

One staffer this month had been notified that strange charges were appearing on one account and steps were taken to cancel it and get a new one to a spouse who happened to be on the road at the time.

I was looking at my bill to make sure a final charge was on it from the Los Angeles American Numismatic Association convention that I had incurred Aug. 8.

Imagine that. Nobody is in a hurry to pay bills ahead of time when enjoying a free float, and I certainly got the advantage of more than six weeks of it, and since the bill is not yet due, I will have some days more.

However, in this case, I would rather get it taken care of because I have to file an expense report with corporate headquarters. That office wants staff to get expense reports in five days after the return to the office. I imagine this is pretty routine in corporate America.

I met that goal for the most part, but this bill was still hanging over my head because I did not know the precise amount.

Another colleague here in the office had a charge on a card that the corporate office had already reimbursed for, but the amount had not yet appeared on this personal account.

All well and good, but with recent changes in the laws governing credit card issuance, the firm involved changed its rules, too.

In this case, the change was the fact that the interest clock started when the charge was incurred. This amount now becomes another request to corporate headquarters for reimbursement.

All of this I know is fairly routine in any American’s life nowadays, but sometimes I yearn for the simpler times when what I could spend was the cash in my wallet and when that ran out I had to stop.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009 2:12:06 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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Monday, September 28, 2009

Will Chronicles set sell out?
Posted by Dave

The final 50,000 proof 2009 Abraham Lincoln commemorative silver dollars will finally hit the market Oct. 15 when the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set is placed on sale by the U.S. Mint.

Price of the set is $55.95 and there will be a five-set-per-household limit imposed. (Reduced to one, 9/29)

It has been roughly six months since the proof and uncirculated versions of the Lincoln commemorative silver dollar sold out rapidly. There were 325,000 proofs sold and 125,000 uncirculateds taken by collectors in just six weeks to bring total sales to 450,000 coins.

In contrast, sales of Louis Braille silver dollars are just over 165,000 after being on sale since March.

Overall, there is a limit of 500,000 on the Lincoln commemorative silver dollars, so the Chronicles set will have a maximum run of 50,000.

Potential buyers will be doing the math to see if a sellout of this final tranche of Lincoln dollars is likely and making mental projections as to possible profits from selling them on the secondary market.

If every buyer takes the maximum, it will take only 10,000 buyers to grab the entire issue. (Changed to 50,000, 9/29)

After potential buyers are done with all of their calculations, will they notice how good the set looks? I hope so. It is well done, but I know that art takes second place to calculations of scarcity.

In this Year of Lincoln, do you think this set will sell out?

Monday, September 28, 2009 2:06:06 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [4]

Friday, September 25, 2009

For mint sets, some things change, some things don't
Posted by Dave

When the U.S. Mint’s uncirculated coin set, popularly called the mint set, is released Oct. 1, some collectors will probably have the same reaction I did when they see the price.

$27.95.

That’s a lot of money.

The very first set I ever purchased from the Mint was the 1969 set, which was priced at $2.50.

Naturally, I can’t just let it go at that. There is always another way to look at things and the mint set is no different.

The set I purchased for $2.50 in 1969 had nine coins in it with a face value of $1.33. The face value works out to 53.2 percent of the sale price.

The 2009 mint set has many more bells and whistles in it in the form of commemorative designs. There are 36 coins in it with a face value of $14.38. That works out to 51.4 percent of face value.

That’s remarkably consistent pricing for sets 40 years apart.

This year’s hobby has been excited by the four Lincoln cent designs. Counting the coins from both mints, Denver and Philadelphia, that is eight pieces. And their alloy is that used in 1909, 95 percent copper, 3 percent zinc and 2 percent tin.

There are two nickels, two dimes and two half dollars.

The quarters add up to 12 pieces and the dollars to 10, four Presidential designs and one Native American dollar from each of the mints.

It makes the 1969 set shrimpy in comparison. But in 1969 we were just glad to have mintmarks back having just returned to the coinage in 1968.

There was an “S” cent and an “S” nickel. It seemed exciting to have that mintmark back, too, since San Francisco supposedly had closed coin production forever in 1955 only to be reopened to cope with the coin shortage of the mid 1960s.

The set also did not have a Philadelphia nickel in it, something that still confounds newcomers. That mint simply didn’t make nickels that year or in 1968 or in 1970.

The one half dollar in the 1969 set was from Denver. It had a 40-percent silver alloy. Collectors considered themselves fortunate to have any silver in the set at all, but were still disappointed at the loss of 90 percent silver coinage due to the Coinage Act of 1965.

Conflicted feelings? Sure. But still true.

Somewhere, sometime, somebody is going to have conflicted feelings about this year’s set and fondly remember buying it as I remember buying the 1969 set.

Friday, September 25, 2009 2:21:31 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

Comments [2]

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Take a 'Polk' at First Spouse series
Posted by Dave

The Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee and the Commission of Fine Arts have reviewed designs for next year’s America the Beautiful quarter series and the First Spouse gold coin series.

There are five different quarter designs to be issued in 2010 and four First Spouse designs.

What strikes me about the designs is not their quality or lack thereof. I will let you take a look at the story that gets posted a little later and the designs that go with it so you can make your judgments.

What hits me is simply a matter of timing. Next year we finally reach Mary Todd Lincoln, wife of the President historians often rank as the greatest.

The arrival of a famous name following a sequence of lesser known Presidents’ wives should help the series sell. Some rank the Presidents of the 1850s prior to Lincoln as the worst and almost the worst holders of the office. It is no wonder Americans know little or nothing about them. Average people know hardly more about the Presidents of the 1840s.

Put another way, if the series is to have any chance at all of reviving from the current low level of sales, it will be up to Lincoln to start the process of heavy lifting.

The wife of Ulysses S. Grant, Julia, will probably give a boost to sales in 2011.

Once we get to the 20th century, sales could also jump for the wives of Teddy Rooevelt, Franklin Roosevelt, Harry Truman and Dwight Eisenhower.

There are no guarantees, but familiarity is something present issues are lacking.

Sarah Polk, anyone?

Thursday, September 24, 2009 2:03:26 PM (GMT Daylight Time, UTC+01:00)

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