What's Happening

From the desk of your Secretary

MAR 17/10 - The US Mint now has the following upcoming products with exact release dates specified:

3/18/2010 Abigail Fillmore First Spouse Gold Coins
3/18/2010 Abigail Fillmore Bronze Medal
3/23/2010 2010 Boy Scouts of America Centennial Silver Dollar
3/26/2010 Presidential Dollar Coin & First Spouse Medal Set - Fillmore
3/26/2010 Women Airforce Service Pilots Bronze Medal
4/02/2010 Millard Fillmore Dollar Coin Cover
4/13/2010 2010 Presidential Dollar Uncirculated Set (P&D)
4/19/2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Bags and Two-Roll Set - Hot Springs (AR)
 

MAR 12/10 - The US Mint recently revealed the pricing for the 2010 annual coin sets, to be released throughout the rest of the year. This includes the two separate America the Beautiful Quarter Proof Sets, the 2010 Mint Set, 2010 Proof Set, and 2010 Silver Proof Set. Price increases will take place nearly across the board. The US Mint has already released the 2010 Presidential Dollar Proof Set, which was priced at $15.95. This was a $1 increase from the prior year price of $14.95

The prices for each product are shown below, followed by last year's price for comparison.

MAR 04/10 - Production at the Philadelphia Mint was confined to cents, dimes, and Native American Dollars. The Denver Mint only produced cents. The table below displays the breakdown of production, and the year to date totals.

FEB 05/10 - The United States Mint announced today that it will begin accepting orders for its 2010 Presidential$1 Coin Proof Set on February 11, 2010, at noon Eastern Time.

The set contains four proof versions of the circulating Presidential $1 Coins scheduled to be released this year, bearing the portraits of Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln. Each coin has a common reverse design featuring a striking rendition of the Statue of Liberty.

JAN 29/10 - The United States Mint will begin sales of bags and rolls of 2010 Kennedy Half Dollars today January 29, 2010 at 12:00 Noon ET.

The rolls will be offered as a two roll set that contains one 20-coin roll of coins from the Philadelphia Mint and one 20-coin roll of coins from the Denver Mint. The rolls are packaged in special US Mint branded wrappers which indicate the face value, date, and mint mark of the coins. The 2010 Kennedy Half Dollar two roll sets are priced at $32.95 each.

There will be one option available for coins packaged in a mint sewn bag. This bag will include a total of 200 of the 2010 Kennedy Halves, with 100 from each Mint facility. The bags are priced at $130.95 each.

JAN 27/10 -Based on the recent London Fix prices for gold, it is likely that prices for the United States Mint's numismatic gold products will decrease tomorrow. This decrease will put prices back to levels last seen in early November 2009.

Under the US Mint's pricing policy for numismatic gold and platinum coins, the prices for products can be adjusted as frequently as once per week in response to changing prices of the metals. The average price is calculated based on London Fix prices from Thursday AM of the prior week to Wednesday AM of the current week. If the average price comes in above or below set increments, prices for coins are adjusted proportionally.

~ The missing details on this $5 Indian reveal it to be counterfeit.

One common technique used by authenticators is to assess a coin’s level of detail. This can be done simply by visual inspection with the aid of a low-power magnifier. When common features are faint, indistinct or entirely lacking, there is good evidence that a coin is not the genuine article. This month we examine the reverse of a Denver Mint Indian Half Eagle. By examining it side-by-side with a genuine example, it’s clear that something is wrong.

The genuine coin is on the left, and the counterfeit is on the right. Click any of the images below for enlargements.

JAN 26/10 - Economic conditions caused a significant decline in the need for the United States Mint's circulating coins. Shipments to Federal Reserve Banks declined significantly, resulting in a corresponding decline in seigniorage. This article continues the coverage of the United States Mint 2009 Financial Results.

The United States Mint is responsible for producing and issuing circulating coins in amounts necessary to meet the needs of the United States. The coins are shipped to Federal Reserve Banks to replenish inventory and fulfill commercial demand. Revenue is recognized based on the face value of the coins as they are shipped. Seigniorage arises from the difference between the face value of the coins and the gross cost to produce and distribute the coins.

Circulating Coins Shipped to Federal Reserve Banks

Shipments to the federal reserve fell from nearly 10 billion coins shipped in the prior year to 5.2 billion coins for fiscal year 2010, representing a decline of 48%.

The heaviest declines in shipments occurred for the five cent, ten cent, and twenty five cent denominations, which each fell by more than 60%. Shipments of one cent coins fell by 38.96%. The Annual Report attributed the smaller decline to the popularity of the rotating designs issued for the 2009 Lincoln Cents, although the rotating designs for the twenty five cent denomination under the District of Columbia and United States Territories Quarters Program failed to yield similar benefits.

Shipments of dollar coins fell by only 3.4% from the prior year. Interestingly, 18.6% of the shipments of dollar coins occurred through the US Mint's Circulating $1 Coin Direct Ship Program. Under this program individuals, businesses, and financial institutions can purchase quantities of dollar coins directly from the United States Mint at face value with no charge for shipping. This bypasses the distribution system through the Federal Reserve Banks.

Seigniorage from Circulating Coin Shipments

The total value of circulating coin shipments was 777.6 million compared to 1,294.5 million in the prior year, representing a decline of 38.96%. The relatively smaller decline in the value of shipments was the result of a higher proportion of dollar coins shipped compared to the prior year.

Seigniorage declined by39.42% to $427.8 million, representing the lowest total seigniorage in 12 years. Seigniorage margins were supported by declines in the prices of base metals and the higher proportion of dollar coins within total shipments, which helped offset production costs which were spread over fewer units.

Circulating Coin Unit Cost by Denomination

The cost of producing each denomination except for the five cent coin rose compared to the prior fiscal year. The individual cost of producing the one cent and five cent coins once again exceeded their face value. It cost 1.62 cents to produce each penny and 6.03 cents to produce each nickel.  The amount of seigniorage lost through the production of the cent was $19.8 million with an additional $2.2 million lost on the nickel.

The Federal Reserve Banks and United States Mint expect continued low demand for circulating coins in fiscal year 2010.

JAN 24/10 -

JAN 15/10 - 2010 Presidential dollars designs made known.

JAN 13/10 - The mintages for all 2009 Lincoln Cents are shown below:

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.
 

JAN 07/10 - The following gives the product data for the silver and gold American Eagles

JAN 04/10 - Today, the United States Mint began sales for their first 2010 dated product. The 2010 Native American Dollars are being offered through the Direct Ship Program.

The 2010 Native American Dollar features a portrait of Sacagawea and child on the obverse and the Hiawatha Belt on the reverse. This belt is a visual record of the creation of the Haudenosaunee or Iroquois Confederacy in the early 1400s. This is the second reverse design for the series celebrating the accomplishments and contributions of Native Americans.

The Direct Ship Program was created to make dollar coins more available to the public and encourage their use in circulation. Since the program was introduced in June 2008, the US Mint has distributed more than $130 million in dollar coins through the program. After some widely reported abuses, the US Mint added messages to the product pages which state that by ordering the coins, customers must understand and comply with the intended purpose of the program and not immediately deposit the coins at a bank.

The 2010 Native American Dollars are available in boxes of 250 coins. The coins are wrapped in rolls of 25, with ten rolls to a box. The $250 boxes may be ordered at face value with no charges for shipping and handling. There is a limit of 20 boxes per household. The mint mark of the coins cannot be specified. At various times the US Mint has issued either Philadelphia or Denver Mint coins through the program. You can find the US Mint's product page here.

Update: The US Mint has unexpectedly added 2001 Sacagawea Dollars to the Direct Ship Program as well. The 2001-P Sacagawea Dollar had a mintage of 62,468,00 and the 2001-D had a mintage of 70,939,500. This was the last year the Sacagawea Dollar was struck for circulation- in subsequent years the coins were produced only for sale in numismatic bags and rolls or annual sets.

Orders for the Direct Ship 2001 Sacagawea Dollars are limited to two boxes. The product page is here.