This is comforting and happy news for coin collectors who have practically been on the edge of their seat waiting for information of the numismatic strikes. Collectors have been unable to obtain these proof quality Eagles since they were last available in 2008.

The US Mint was forced to cancel production of the Proof Eagles in 2009 because of the intense demand it was experiencing for the bullion versions of the strikes. That marked the first time the Mint did not strike an annual version of the Proof Gold Eagles since they were first introduced back in 1986.

According to the way the law was written authorizing the Eagles, the Mint must strike the bullion Eagles to meet demand. Unfortunately, as they were not able to procure enough gold blank planchets, that demand was never fully satisfied. As such, the numismatic versions were not produced.

Many wondered if the Mint was not in the same predicament this year as the Gold Eagles were still selling quite well. However, their numbers have not been record-setting and apparently the Mint was able to set aside enough blanks to strike the Proof Eagles.

Indications are that the Mint will strike one-ounce, half-ounce, quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce proofs. The Mint will also release the 4-coin set which includes all four sizes of the Eagle.

These coins will be available directly from the Mint, slated for sometime in October. The price for each option will be set shortly before the coins are released as the Mint bases its numismatic precious metal coin prices on a matrix which ties it to the recent market spot prices.

Unfortunately, collector's good luck has apparently not rubbed off on the Proof Silver American Eagles. They fell victim to the same fate as the Gold Eagles last year and were canceled due to overwhelming bullion demand. However, the Silver Eagles are still on track to break the all-time annual record for the number of strikes sold indicating that demand for them remains quite high.

The Mint indicated in August that likely the only chance for the Silver Proof Eagles to be released this year was for Congress to intervene and to make an exception for their production even though the Mint has not yet met demand for the bullion Silver Eagles. As of yet, Congress has not yet acted.

The James Buchanan products tend to deal mostly with the related First Spouse coins. Typically, this series honors the spouses of the former Presidents of the United States. However, as Buchanan (the 15th President) never married, the Spouse strikes contain his image on the reverse instead and are known as the Buchanan's Liberty Gold Coins. The name is derived from the fact that each contains an image of Liberty on their obverse.

The Buchanan Presidential Dollar honoring him was released back on August 19th, but the First Spouse Coins were only issued on September 2, 2010. Each of the Spouse Coins are struck from 1/2 ounce of 24-karat gold. They are available in either proof or uncirculated condition and currently are on sale for $779 for the proof and $766 for the uncirculated. This price may be adjusted weekly as the Mint links the precious metal coins to the average spot price of gold the previous week.

Also available is a bronze medal replica of the Buchanan Liberty Coin. It is 1 5/16" inches in diameter and sells for $5.50.

The end of the month finds the James Buchanan $1 Coin Cover released on September 30th. This product will include two circulation quality James Buchanan Presidential $1 Coins with one struck at the US Mint's facility in Denver and one struck at the US Mint's facility in Philadelphia. Each are from the first day of production and come mounted on a display card which has been cancelled by the US Post office with August 19, 2010, Lancaster, PA, - the day the coin was released into circulation. Price is slated to be $15.95.

In between the Buchanan releases, the Mint will start offering the Grand Canyon National Park Quarters. The official release ceremony is scheduled for September 21 at 1:30 p.m. (MST), on the park’s South Rim, between Hopi House and Verkamp’s Visitor Center.

The day before, the Mint will have the related products available for sale. This includes the Two-Roll Sets and the 100-coin bags. The Two-Roll Sets contain 40 circulation quality Grand Canyon Quarters struck at the US Mint's facility in Denver and 40 struck at the US Mint's facility in Philadelphia. Each roll is wrapped in special mint wrapping showing the value and contents. The set will sell for $32.95.

Also offered is 100-coin bags of the new quarters. They are also circulation quality with buyers having the choice of Philadelphia or Denver strikes. The Mint lists $35.95 each as the price.

The Grand Canyon Park Quarters are the fourth of five inaugural year strikes for the new America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program. The new series will see five new quarters released each year with one quarter honoring a site of national interest from each state, the District of Columbia and the five territories of the United States.

First, the James Buchanan $1 Coin Rolls were released by the US Mint recently on Thursday, August 19th, 2010. Buyers have their choice of a roll of 25 coins struck to circulation quality at either the US Mint's facility in Denver or a roll of 25 coins struck to circulation quality at the US Mint's facility in Philadelphia. Either choice is available for the price of $35.95, plus the Mint's standard handling charge of $4.95 per order.

Featured on the obverse (heads side) of the Buchanan $1 Coin is a portrait of the former President.  It was designed by United States Mint Sculptor / Engraver Phebe Hemphill.  The reverse (tails side) of the strike contains the standard design found on the reverse of all of the Presidential $1 coins - the Statue of Liberty.  It was the work of United States Mint Sculptor / Engraver Don Everhart.

Premiering this coming Thursday (September 2, 2010), is the Buchanan Liberty First Spouse Gold Coin. Typically, the First Spouse series honors the spouse of a former president.  However, as Buchanan never married, the coin tied to his administration features an image of Liberty on the obverse of the coin instead.

This Liberty was designed by Christian Gobrecht and was originally featured on the Liberty Head Quarter Eagle from 1840-1907.  The reverse shows a scene from the life of Buchanan - in this instance, a young Buchanan working as a bookkeeper in his family's small store.  It was designed by David Westwood and sculpted by Joseph Menna.

A price has not yet been set for the release of these Buchanan Liberty Coins. That is because these coins are struck from one half ounce of .9999 pure gold.  As with all of the precious metal numismatic strikes from the Mint, the debut price will be linked to the Mint's pricing matrix which ties the cost of the precious metal coins to the previous week's average London Fix.  For reference, the current price of Spouse Coins available now stands at $779 for the proof coins and $766 for the uncirculated varieties.

Both bullion coins would have inched higher on the leader board had it not been for May sales that were even hotter. Still, their sales were impressive since summer months are usually among the slowest for the American Eagle series.

The following table provides U.S. Mint coin figures. The first column is for June 2010 and the third for sales through to June 30, 2010. Before looking at it, two things should be noted. One, the totals are in coins sold and not ounces of them sold, and two, they are bullion coins only. To date, the U.S. Mint has not offered numismatic/collector 2010 proof or uncirculated America Eagle versions (the 2009s were canceled due to the enormous demand of the bullion versions).

Prominent in the table are fractional 2010 Gold Eagles, which became available June 10, 2010. Initial sales of the coins exploded, although they have since slowed. The 1/10 ounce sizes have already passed the 260,000 sold in years 2008 and 2009.

In terms of ounces, Mint buyers snapped up 185,000 ounce of gold -- 151,500 ounces of American Gold Eagles and 33,500 ounces of American Buffalo Gold coins.

Demand for the Buffalo bullion coins actually more than halved from May when 70,500 were sold, and are less than April's 56,500. The introduction of the Eagle fractionals likely contributed to their falling numbers.

Switching to American Silver Eagles, the more than 3 million for June marks the fourth time in 2010 the level has been topped. As mentioned, June sales ranked six all-time. The month trailed December 1986, May 2010, January 2010, March 2010 and March 2009 -- in that order. The 18+ million sold during the first half of the year is extraordinary. If that number is doubled by year's end, 2010 will easily earn the title as the best ever for the coins. The current annual record was hit in 2009 with 28,766,500.

In terms of new bullion offerings left for the year, there will be five 2010 bullion America the Beautiful 5 oz Silver Coins that are expected to start debuting later this summer. These are the .999 fine, 3-inch diameter coins that are duplicates of the America the Beautiful Quarters.

The Mint has not indicated whether the platinum bullion American Eagles will be released. The collector proof version will launch on August 12, 2010.

This year's bullion coin sales pace again places pressure on the collector American Eagles. As the Mint is required by law to produce bullion versions to meet demand, the proof and uncirculated coins may again get canceled.

Cute and cuddly make a return to a gold proof coin thanks to the Perth Mint's 2010 Australian Koala Gold Proof Coin. This strike is actually the third in an annual series started by the Perth back in 2008.

Each coin in the series is struck from 99.99% pure gold and come in four different sizes - 2 ounce, 1 ounce, 1/10 ounce and 1/25 ounce with face values of $200, $100, $15 and $5 respectively. As indicated by the face values, these coins are actually considered legal tender of Australia under the Australian Currency Act of 1965. Of course, anyone spending them as cash there will be in for a real surprise when they find out that the coin's intrinsic value was worth much more than its face value indicates.

When first released in 2008, the reverse design featured a koala with its young clinging to its back. The 2009 design saw a koala sitting on a tree branch while holding onto another with its front paws. Now featured on the 2010 reverse is a koala clutching a tree branch with its paws while it chews on some gum leaves. The 2010 design is the work of artist Wade Robinson.

Koalas are one of Australia's most famous marsupials, perhaps only surpassed in recognition by the kangaroo. It typically spends most of its time high up in the trees eating eucalyptus leaves which are toxic to most creatures. The koala have adapted to the leaves and make their diet almost exclusively out of them.

Each coin ships in a unique display case with a jarrah timber lid and a numbered certificate of authenticity along with an illustrated shipper showing some koalas. Limited mintages are available for each size with the two ounce maxing out at 250, the one ounce at 2,000, the 1/10 ounce coin at 5,000 and the 1/25 ounce coin at 15,000.

Those interested in more information should see World Mint Coin's 2010 Koala Gold Proof Coin page.

In just the first five days of sales, 310,000 of the strikes have been ordered from the Mint showing the public is still extremely interested in the gold bullion coins.  Fractional Gold Eagles have not been available since December of 2009 when they appeared for a limited time before reaching a sell-out status that same month.

This year's 2010 versions of the fractional Eagles were released on June 10 and sales have been brisk - in total, 28,000 of the 1/2 ounce coins have been ordered along with 42,000 of the 1/4 ounce coins and 240,000 of the 1/10 coins.  This totals a decent 48,500 ounces of gold just in the fractional sizes.

Of course, the one ounce Gold Eagle Bullion Coins have also been selling quite well since they were released back in January.  In total, 565,000 of those have been sold year-to-date putting them roughly on par with last year when the ounce Eagles sold over 1.3 million for the year.

Bullion coins like these are not sold directly to the public.  Instead, a network of authorized purchasers are allowed to buy the coins in bulk from the Mint.  The network then resells the coins for a small premium over the spot price of the precious metal contained within them.

For more information on the Gold Eagles, see World Mint's America Eagle Gold Bullion page.

Not surprisingly, the proof coins did quite well, however, not quite as well as they did last year.

According to the Mint, the 2010 Buffalos sold 15,071 orders in their premier week.  Calculating it out with the sales price of $1,510 per coin, and the Mint took in $22,757,210 gross on the coins. Comparatively, last year the Mint recorded sales of 19,468 units, and in only the first four days of sales.  Doing the math and plugging in the opening sales price of $1,360 per coin and the gross for 2009 initial week sales was $26,476,480.  Quite a bit higher than experienced this year.

Of course, the two might not be completely valid comparisons.  Last year the Mint was forced to hold off issuing the Proof Buffalos until late in the year.  Extreme demand for gold bullion coins meant the Mint did not have the resources to strike the Proof Buffalos earlier as it would have done in a normal year.

By late October 2009, the Mint had built up enough blank inventory to strike the one ounce Buffalos, which it did.  Demand proved quite high at that time for the coins, no doubt owing to several factors.

One of those factors was undoubtedly the late appearance of the coins - Collectors who were unsure of how long the strikes would be available had to purchase fast to avoid a sell-out.

Second, numismatic interest is always higher in the fall and winter months than in the summer months, which is probably hurting the initial sales of the coins this year.

Third, gold prices were much lower last year making them more attainable.

See World Mint Coins 2010 Gold Buffalo page for more information on the coin.

In what could be the most unique and affordable option out there for gold bullion, the Perth Mint has released the 2010 Mini Roo 0.5g Gold Bullion Coin.

Struck from 0.016 troy ounces of 99.99% pure gold, this new coin continues a tradition of gold bullion coins from the Perth that dates back to 1986. In that year, the Perth started minting its gold bullion strikes with images of gold nuggets on them giving them the nickname of "nugget."

It only took a few years for the Perth to decide that gold nuggets did not make for very desirable imagery and in 1989, it turned to one of Australia's most famous iconic animals - the kangaroo.

The gold bullion coins from the Perth have featured kangaroos ever since making them desirable not only for their gold content, but also for the imagery found on each and every piece. The Perth has created the kangaroos in various sizes including 1/20 oz, 1/10 oz, 1/4 oz, 1/2 oz, 1 oz, 2 oz, 10 oz, and even 1 kg. However, 2010 marks the first year in which this new more affordable size is offered.

Also, according to the Mint, this coin is the first of what is to become an annual tradition of 0.5g gold bullion kangaroo coins with each year featuring a new reverse design.

The kangaroo shown on the reverse of the 2010 coin shows a hopping kangaroo. It is the work of Wade Robinson.

As legal tender under the Australian Currency Act of 1965, the $2 face value gold coin features an image of Queen Elizabeth II on its obverse. It was designed by Ian Rank-Broadley.

The bullion quality Mini Roo can be purchased directly from the Perth Mint for the extremely affordable AUS $45.41 plus shipping.

The Mint indicated in a statement that the coins would be released on June 10, 2010 to its network of authorized purchasers. Those unfamiliar with the Mint's policy on bullion coins may not know that it does not sell the coins directly to the public, but instead uses a network of buyers which purchases the coins in larger volumes, then resells the strikes to coin dealers and individuals for a small premium over the current spot price of the gold contained within them.

The one ounce 2010 Gold Eagles have been available since January 19th and have been setting records since that date.  However, the fractional Eagles have not been seen since the 2009 version sold out in December of last year.  Due to unprecedented demand for precious metal bullion from the Mint, the coins were only actually available for a few days before reaching that sell-out status.

Previous to their 2009 debut, the Mint was directing all available gold into the production of its one ounce bullion pieces to try and meet demand.  It was able to build up an inventory of fractional blanks, however, to allow the December release of the coins which normally would be available most of the year.

In just the few days in which the fractionals were available in 2009, more of them were sold than in the entire previous year. In total, 110,000 of the 1/2 ounce Eagles were sold, 110,000 of the 1/4 ounce and 270,000 of the 1/10 ounce.

Unlike the numismatic pieces produced by the Mint, these bullion coins are struck as devices to allow individuals an affordable investment option in precious metals.  However, collectors have also take quite an interest in the pieces.

For more information on the Gold Eagles, see World Mint's America Eagle Gold Bullion page.

Falling for the fourth consecutive session, the New York Market June futures on gold dropped to $1,176.10 an ounce, or down 4.2% for the week.  However, in what appears to have been an inverse relationship, the Mint's network of authorized purchasers snatched up 67,000 of the one ounce American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins in the last week of reporting.

That amazing number compares to only 31,000 the week before and 41,500 for the first week of May.  Adding it all up, 139,500 have been accounted for so far this month with 471,000 sold by the Mint this year.

Silver Eagle Bullion sales have been even more impressive than the gold - and that is with the silver prices being hit even harder than the yellow metal's.  July futures on silver plummeted to $17.651 an ounce, losing over 8% for the week over what it had been.

In just the last week, Silver Eagles racked up 1,143,000 out the door, with 1,005,500 the previous week and 892,000 before that. Combining those sales for the month equals 3,040,500 sold - or the best ever May for the Silver Eagles.  Yearly totals on these add up to 14,571,500.

Those unfamiliar with bullion product from the US Mint may not know about the network of authorized purchasers.  This network buys the bullion directly from the Mint in large lots, and then resells it in smaller quantities to coin dealers and individuals for a small premium over the spot price of the precious metal they contain.  The US Mint will not sell the bullion coins directly to the public.

The bullion Eagles were first made available in 1986 as a means for investors to obtain small quantities of gold and silver to add to their portfolios.  They have since proved quite popular, not only as investments, but also to collectors.

For more information on the American Eagles, see World Mint Coin's individual pages on the strikes.

In fact, demand in just the month of May has been staggering.  With just 13 days accounted for in the records, 144,000 ounces of the gold bullion coins have been sold.  Only 3,001 more ounces sold and May will become the best selling month for the year - a feat which should be easily attainable seeing as how over  half of the month is left.

Of that 144,000, 67,000 were sold as the 22-karat One Ounce American Eagle's and 47,000 as the 24-karat  One Ounce American Buffalo.

Looking at the gold bullion for the year as a whole, 398,500 of the American Eagle's have been sold and 103,500 of the Buffalos - for a total of 502,000 ounces.  So, doing some quick calculations show that over 28% of all the gold bullion coins sold this year were sold in the recent first 13 days of May.

Some of this may have to do with the fact that the Buffalos were only recently released by the Mint on Thursday, April 29, 2010.  Sales were equally as exciting that first day as 48,500 of the new strikes were accounted for.

The Gold Eagles were made available for purchase back in January, on the 19th of that month.

Collector versions of both are typically available each year, but last year's demand placed on the Mint for gold coins forced a halt to the collector coin production.  No date has been made public for the Eagle's to make a return to the collector market, but the Mint's website shows June 3, 2010 as the return for the collector Buffalo Proof Coin.

It should also be noted that bullion sales are not offered directly to the public by the US Mint.  Instead, the Mint uses a network of authorized purchasers which buy the bullion coins in quantity, then resell them in smaller lots to coin dealers and individuals for a small premium above the market price of the gold contained within them.

For those collectors interested in a unique limited mintage coin with a significant amount of history behind, the newly released 2010 Perth Mint Gold Proof Australian Sovereign might be just what you are looking for. Despite having a relationship to a coin dating back over five centuries, the Australian Sovereign is new in both its design and in its re-appearance in the last 100 years.

The first sovereigns date to 1489 and were minted for King Henry VII of England. Gold sovereigns continued to be produced over the next 400 plus years almost non-stop for the British Empire. As one of the colonies of Great Britain, Australia also used the coins as currency during the late 1800's.

To simplify the production and distribution of the coins to its colonies, the Royal Mint of Great Britain had branch mint's constructed to refine local gold deposits and strike sovereigns to be used in or near that colony. The Perth Mint of Australia was one such branch mint created just for that purpose.

The Perth continued to strike the sovereigns until 1931 when Great Britain went off of the gold standard. Last year, in 2009, the Perth started re-issuing sovereigns as collectible coins in an extremely limited mintage. This year marks the second installment of the coins which the Perth states will be a continuing annual series.

All of the coins are struck from 22-carat gold to what the Perth terms "supreme proof quality." The obverse (as legal tender of Australia) contains an image of Queen Elizabeth II while the reverse showcases the Australian Commonwealth Coat of Arms along with a seven-pointed star, a kangaroo and an emu.

Initial price for the coins is listed at AUS $590 and includes a numbered certificate of authenticity and a timber presentation case.

See World Mint Coin's 2010 Australian Sovereign page for more information.

As reported earlier this week, the Buffalo Bullion launched on Thursday, April 29, 2010 - the first day in which the Mint's network of authorized purchasers were allowed to place orders for the strikes.  In just the first day, the Mint sold 48,500 of the 24-karat gold pieces.

Sales like that indicate that the buyers were anxious to get their hands on some of the investment pieces, evidently still weary from last years Buffalo Bullion shortage.  In 2009, a lack of a sufficient supply of gold blanks forced the Mint to hold off releasing the coins until late in the year when they could build up enough inventory.

On October 15, 2009 the Mint started offering the pieces and an astonishing 71,500 were ordered in the first four days.  It took less than two months for the Mint to declare a sell-out of the strikes on December 4th with 200,000 sold.  While not enough to beat the debut year of the strikes in 2006 for sales, it was enough to top the 2007 and 2008 sales.

Now with almost 50,000 sold in just one day, it is not out of the realm of possibility for the 2010 strikes to break the all-time record of 2006.  In fact, just the launch day this year accounted for over 15% of 2006's 323,000 total sold.

The America Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins contain the same basic obverse and reverse imagery of the extremely popular nickel that launched in 1913 dubbed either the "Indian Head Nickel" or the "Buffalo Nickel."  James Earle Fraser completed the designs during a renaissance of American circulating coinage that occured near the beginning of the last century.

Each of these coins are struck from one ounce of .9999 fine gold and are meant as investment options for the public but see many collectors interested in them as well. Proof versions of the coin are also usually struck but the Mint has not yet released an availability date for those - only stating they will be available this year.

The US Mint does not sell the bullion coins directly to the public but instead uses a network of authorized purchasers who buy them in bulk from the Mint only to resell them in smaller quantities to coin dealers and individuals for a small premium over the spot price of the gold contained within them.

The memo was nothing if not short and to the point, which is typical for this type of correspondence between the Mint and its bullion purchasers:

April 26, 2010

MEMORANDUM TO ALL AMERICAN BUFFALO BULLION COIN AUTHORIZED PURCHASERS    

SUBJECT:  2010-Dated American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coins

The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins on Thursday, April 29, 2010. 

All standard ordering procedures apply.

Thank you for your continued support of the United States Mint Bullion Program.

Many may recall that the availability of the Buffalo Bullion strike was something of a roller-coaster experience in 2009. Due to the over-whelming demand placed on the Mint for its Gold Bullion Eagles, the Mint indicated it just did not have an adequate supply of gold blanks to also strike the Buffalo pieces early in the year.

While some may have thought why not just produce less of the Eagles, the Mint really did not have an option. By law, it is required to strike the Eagles to demand. There is no such requirement placed on the Buffalo coins.

Still, by the last quarter of 2009, the Mint was able to procure enough gold blanks to strike some of the 1 Oz. Buffalos with the 2009 date on them. Once made available on October 15th, the coins blasted off of the Mint's shelves with 71,500 claimed in just the first five days of availability. It took less than two months for the Mint to declare that the Bullion Buffalo were sold out with sales figures showing a mintage of 200,000 for the year.

While that 200,000 may not seem like much to many, it was enough to place the 2009 coins at a level well above the number sold in either of the two previous years.

For more information on the coins, see the World Mint Coin's Gold Buffalo Bullion Coin page.

Availability of the 2009 American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Proof Coins from the United States Mint ended last week as they announced a sell-out of the 24-karat, .9999 fine gold.  This means that interested individuals who still would like to get their hands on the collectible strikes need to turn their sites on the secondary market.

The Mint started selling the proof strikes on October 29, 2009 which is much later in the year than the annual coins would normally be released.  The Mint appeared to have their hands full striking bullion versions of the Gold American Eagles which they are required to produce to demand, leaving little resources for the proof Buffallos.

Despite the limited time-frame in which they were offered by the Mint (around five months from late October 2009 to late March 2010), the mintage for these strikes had a very respectable, but still remarkably limited number of around 50,000.  The last official sales figures from the Mint places them at 49,388, but should climb before the final tallies are released.

Previous mintage on the Proof Gold Buffalos were:

• 2008 - 18,863
• 2007 - 58,998
• 2006 - 246,267

So, as you can see, the Mintage for the 2009 strikes is over twice that of the previous 2008 issues, but less than 2007, and roughly only 20% of the premier year of 2006.

When the Mint first started selling the 2009 Buffalos, they were priced at $1,360.  Price changes throughout their availability saw a height of $1,460, but that lowered down to $1,410 by the time they sold out.

A quick glance at eBay (an excellent gauge of secondary market pricing) over the last week places ungraded coins in the $1375-$1400 price range for completed auctions. Graded PF70's price much higher and hover above $1500 for the most part.

For more information on the coins as well as some sample eBay auctions for them, see our 2009 Gold Buffalo page.

Collectors and investors have shown a nice demand for this series of coins. As almost pure gold, collectors view them as a part of their investment portfolios with the knowledge that their content and purity are backed by the US government.  Collectors see the coins as nice numismatic additions that offer an extremely low mintage and the bragging rights of owning a gold coin.

Proof and uncirculated versions of the coin will be available upon launch.  Past spouse coin sales show a strong preference among buyers for the proof quality but both typically see numbers well into the multiple thousands.

The Mint will strike no more than 40,000 total of these coins although recent spouse strikes have not attained numbers close to that.  All four of the 2008 members of the series including the Elizabeth Monroe, Louisa Adams, Jackson's Liberty and Van Buren coins all closed out with less than 13,000 total sold.

Price for the Abigail Fillmore coins will be based on the Mint's precious metal coin pricing matrix.  Current coins are selling for $716 for the uncirculated coin and $729 for the proof, but these prices may be adjusted on Wednesday before the Fillmore release.

Please see World Mint Coin's Abigail Fillmore Proof and Abigail Fillmore Uncirculated pages for more information.

Anyone interested in buying the coins may do so directly from the US Mint via their website at www.usmint.gov or by calling their toll-free ordering hotline at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

1 5/16" Bronze medal replicas of the coins will also be created by the Mint and are available for sale.

While this has to be considered an impressive amount, it is far from breaking any sort of records. One only has to look as far as January 2010 to see higher numbers, albeit only slightly with 85,000 sold.

Of course, both of those months are probably being affected slightly by the Mint's left-over supply of 2009 dated coins.  The Mint stated in mid-January that it still had over 50,000 of the previous years strikes in its warehouse.  As such, it instituted a policy requiring its authorized purchasers to order one of the 2009-dated coins for every three of the 2010-dated coins that they wanted.

Still, coming in at the fifth best February is nothing to sneeze at.  The higher record holders have set levels that will be hard to beat.  Most notably among these is the current best February from 1987 of 205,000 of the gold strikes.

It should be noted that the Mint does not sell its bullion coins directly to the public.  Instead it uses a network of authorized purchasers which are allowed to buy the coins from the Mint, and in turn sells them to other dealers or to the public for a small amount above the market price of the precious metals which they contain.

For more information on these coins, see World Mint Coin's Gold American Eagle page.

Even with several hurtles to over-come, the Silver Eagles recorded their best ever sales for the month of January with 3,592,500 sold. The Gold Eagles were not as popular but still managed to rack up 85,000 sold before the month closed out, tagging the seventh best January ever for them.

What makes these numbers more incredible are the factors that actually limited the sales of the coins; one of them being the late release of both bullion Eagles. Due to US Mint production issues, both were only made available on January 19, 2010. Typically, the coins are offered for sale much closer to the first of the year.

For more detailed information on the American Eagles January sales, we bring you two articles that were published on a sister site:

Gold Eagle Bullion Coin January Sales

2010 American Gold Eagle Bullion Coins launched with strong opening sales. However, as of the final business day of the month on Friday, fewer eagles were sold in January 2010 at 85,000 compared to the January 2009 total of 92,000.

Demand has certainly been impacted by falling bullion prices. The London Fix for gold ended January at $1,078.50 an ounce versus the $1,104.00 price set on December 31. That is $25.50 or a 2.3% fall.

There was also a bit of a twist for Gold Eagles this month. The United States Mint normally begins striking newly dated eagles in December to have them ready for the market in January. However, with little or no inventory in reserve the US Mint was compelled to strike 2009-dated eagles late into last year and sell them into 2010. Since the 2009 inventory was not depleted by the start of the year, the Mint has required buyers to purchase both 2009 and 2010 coins together.

The 2010 Gold Eagles launched on Tuesday, January 19, with 30,500 ordered. Additionally, 18,500 of the 2009-dated eagles were purchased, bringing the single day sales to an impressive 49,000 -- more than double the amount that had been sold in the 18 days prior. By Wednesday, a total of 69,000 of the 22-karat, one ounce coins were snapped up. Flash forward a dozen days and just 16,000 eagles were sold to reach the 85,000 for January.

Prior to January, monthly sales had been at or above 115,500 going back to August 2009.

For more information about this year's gold bullion coin, to include specifications and design details, visit the coin information page American Gold Eagles.

Silver Eagle Bullion Coin January Sales

2010 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins were released on January 19, 2010, to eager buyers who sprinted to place US Mint orders that totaled 3,592,500 by month's end.

Pent-up demand driven by a later than usual launch helped drive sales. The United States Mint normally releases newly dated bullion coins in late December so they can be sold to the public in time for the new year. That did not happen this year as demand in December left inventories low, compelling the Mint to strike 2009s late into last year and sell them into 2010. The 2009-dated Silver Eagles eventually sold out on Jan. 12, leaving a week of silence until the 2010s were released.

When launched, the coins sold like hot cakes. US Mint authorized buyers snapped up 2,480,000 within 48 hours -- just more than 8.6 percent of the total sold in all of recording-breaking 2009. When adding in the 2009-dated eagles that were sold weeks before, Mint accounting shows 2,847,500 one-ounce silver coins were purchased through to Wednesday, Jan. 20.

And despite silver prices diving between that Wednesday and the following Friday, or perhaps because buyers were getting in on a perceived dip, another 243,000 left US Mint doors. That brought the total to 3,090,500. Three business days later (last Wednesday), 502,000 more were gone, bringing the final January tally to the aforementioned 3,592,500.

How impressive is that? The annual series was born in 1986. Since then, there has only been one other January month (Jan. 2008) where sales had even passed the 2 million mark.

For more information about this year's silver bullion coin, to include specifications and design details, visit the coin information page American Silver Eagles.

The Mint does not sell bullion eagles directly to the public, but instead to a small group of authorized purchasers who in turn resell them to precious metal providers, investors, dealers and collectors. These coins do not have a mint mark, unlike their numismatic counterparts.

Since their introduction in 1986, the Eagles have normally been available without restriction for most of each year. As most collectors and investors know, this was not the case for the 2010 fractionals.

Instead, the Mint only released the one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce Eagles on December 3, 2009. This late introduction and the astonishing demand for gold helped to push the fractionals to a one-day record sales level. In less than 24 hours, 345,000 coins were sold.

With a tight blank availability, the Mint announced that the 1/10 ounce size inventory was depleted after the first day, and the 1/4 and 1/2 ounce coins were extremely limited placing those two sizes on an allocation program. Even the allocation process was not enough to prevent a sell-out of available inventory of the two larger fractionals within a few more days, and the Mint was forced to suspend sales.

Then, on December 14th, the Mint released its remaining inventory of fractionals freshly struck from the limited supply of blanks it had in-house. But, within a week, these too had sold out, and the Mint announced it would not strike anymore.

So, in just a matter of days, the Mint had sold their entire mintage of the fractionals bringing their total number to what you see in the chart below.

In comparison to previous years, more 2009 fractionals were sold in that short time than the Mint saw last year from their 2008 series. In fact, the 1/2 and 1/4 ounce coins for 2009 ranked number 5 over all since their introduction in 1986.

At this time, the Mint has not announced an availability date for the 2010 series of fractional Eagles, but you can bet when they do, there will be some elevated interest.

Gold Eagle Bullion Coin

Silver Eagle Bullion Coin

These eagles, which are the investment versions of the also popular collector proof and uncirculated eagles, have already been delayed by enormous demand that has strained the Mint's supplies of bullion coin blanks. This is the same demand which resulted in cancellations of the aforementioned collector eagles during 2009.

The Mint typically halts production of a current year bullion coins by late November to begin production of the next year issues, leaving on-hand supplies to fulfill demand. Authorized purchasers could then purchase the new year strikes in December in order to resell them to the public in January.

However, the Mint was never able to build a sufficient inventory in 2009, which resulted in a continual backlog and an allocation process for much of the year -- and the delayed striking of replacement year eagles.

For the remaining supplies, the Mint said it "will continue allocations of 2009 American Eagle Gold and Silver One Ounce Bullion Coins through the end of the year and into 2010 as long as inventories remain."

News of the availability of 2010 fractional Eagles or the Buffalo coins is not yet available. Fractional Gold Buffalo coins were not struck in 2009. The fractional Eagles coins were released on Dec. 3, 2009, and quickly sold out.

First available to the buying public on January 22, 2009, the UHR's will be available from the US Mint until 3 PM (Eastern) on December 31. At that time, the Mint will stop taking orders for the pieces.

Each Double Eagle contains imagery designed over 100 years ago by the famed artist Augustus Saint-Gaudens. It was originally meant for and placed on the 1907 Gold Double Eagles, which also initially were created using an ultra high relief design. Many consider this early 1900 coin to be the most beautiful ever produced in the United States.

Unfortunately, the Mint was unable to continue striking the coins to such a high relief due to the multiple strikes needed to create such detail, and within the first year, the depth of the coin was reduced significantly. Bankers also approved of the lower profile as the original design was not conducive to stacking.

The lower relief still contained the same basic imagery as Saint-Gaudens designed including the mythical figure of Liberty walking towards the viewer, leading the way with a torch in her right hand and an olive branch in her left. On the reverse, a young eagle is seen flying during a sunrise.

The 2009 version of the coin features the same design, with a return to the ultra high relief. Each modern-era version of the coin is struck from 24-karat .9999 fine gold to a diameter of 27mm. They are being struck for one year only.

Purchasers will find the coin comes encapsulated and placed in a mahogany wood box. Also included with each coin is a hard-cover book relating the story of the original design as well as the modern day minting processes that made this new coin feasible.

Orders will be taken via the Mint's website at www.usmint.gov or via their toll-free number of 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468) up until the cut-off time on December 31st. Due to the fluctuating price of gold, mail orders will not be accepted.

To get more details on sales of the UHRs and to view images of the case and included hard-cover book, see this CoinNews.net article.

For more information on the coin, go to the World Mint Coin 2009 UHR page.

]]> http://worldmintcoins.com/2009-uhr-double-eagles-available-for-two-more-weeks/102364/feed 0 http://worldmintcoins.com/us-mint-gold-2009-buffalo-bullion-coin-sells-out/102353 http://worldmintcoins.com/us-mint-gold-2009-buffalo-bullion-coin-sells-out/102353#comments Sun, 06 Dec 2009 20:47:51 +0000 World Mint Coins Staff http://worldmintcoins.com/?p=2353 2009 American Buffalo Gold Bullion Coin sales have ended, the US Mint announced on Friday. While the collector or numismatic proof versions are still available -- only the Mint knows for how long -- the inventory of bullion coins is gone, and no more will be produced this year.

"The United States Mint has depleted its inventory of 2009 American Buffalo One Ounce Gold Bullion Coins," said U.S. Mint Director of Public Affairs Tom Jurkowsky to authorized purchasers. "No additional inventory will be made available. As additional information becomes available regarding 2010-dated American Buffalo One Once Gold Bullion Coins, you will be notified."

Unlike coins struck specifically for coin collectors, the US Mint does not sell bullion coins to the public. They are instead offered to Authorized Purchasers who then resell to coin dealers, precious metal providers, and/or directly to the public. (See information on the collector minted 2009 Gold Buffalo Proof Coin.)

The bullion Buffalos first went on sale Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009. By the following Monday, 71,500 had sold, which was nearly 42 percent of the total sold in all of 2008. Despite their late release, by December the 2009 tally broke both the 2008 and 2007 totals.

As of this writing, 200,000 of the 2009-dated gold coins have been sold. The US Mint reported annual sales of 172,000 in 2008 and 167,500 in 2007.

The American Buffalo Gold Coins have the distinction of being the first .9999 fine 24-karat gold coins ever struck by the US Mint, and were first released in 2006.

Both the obverse and reverse of the Buffalo are the same basic design that first appeared on the 1913 circulating nickel, commonly known by most as either the "Indian Head Nickel" or the "Buffalo Nickel."

The obverse has a portrait of a Native American, said to be a composite of three Indian chiefs. Many have claimed to be one of those three models, but only two were ever verified by the artist James Earle Fraser: Cheyenne Chief Two Moons and Lakota Sioux Chief Iron Tail.

The reverse contains an image of an American buffalo, also known as a bison. It is believed by many to be modeled after a buffalo named "Black Diamond" who lived in the New York City Zoo.

For more information on the bullion coin, click on the image above.

Margaret Taylor Gold Coins

In what is sure to be a good day for collectors, five new products are being released by the US Mint tomorrow (December 3, 2009).

As previously posted, the Margaret Taylor First Spouse coins are two issues that will become available. These coins are struck from one half ounce of 24-karat (.9999 fine) gold to either a proof or uncirculated condition. These will be the last First Spouse coins to be released this year and are expected to initially sell for $754 for the proof and $741 for the uncirculated, based on the Mint's pricing matrix.

Along with the gold Taylors, the Mint will also have 1 5/16' bronze medals of Margaret Taylor available. They are an exact likeness of her First Spouse coin and will sell for $3.95 each. As this bronze medal completes the series for the year, a five-coin set with all of the First Spouse bronze coins for 2009 is also being released. It contains bronzes of Anna Harrison, Letitia Tyler, Julia Tyler, Sarah Polk and Margaret Taylor and sells for $15.95.

American Eagle Platinum Proofs

Also appearing on the Mint shelves tomorrow will be the Eagle One-Ounce Platinum Proofs. Featuring a new design that is the first of six dedicated to the principles of the Preamble of the Constitution of the United States, the coins are struck from .9995 pure platinum. A price of $1,795 is anticipated for this coin.

To find out more information on these coins, click on the images of them above!

Margaret Taylor Gold Proof

The US Mint has announced plans to begin selling the 1/2 ounce 24-karat gold Margaret Taylor First Spouse Gold Coins on December 3, 2009 at Noon (Eastern). It will be available in both proof and uncirculated versions.

A maximum mintage of only 40,000 has been put in place for the Taylor coins across both product options with the exact proof to uncirculated ratio being determined by demand. Also, the first week the Mint will enforce a 10 coins per product option per household order limit on the coins. It will re-evaluate the order limit after that time and adjust it if needed.

Each coin has a face value of $10, but of course this is not indicative of the true value of the coin. Each one contains 1/2 ounce of .9999 fine gold, so the metal content is what dictates the price (along with a small minting premium).

As with all gold coins, the Mint will base the pricing on the Margaret Taylor coins according to its precious metals pricing structure. Current First Spouse coins are selling for $741 for the uncirculated versions and $754 for the proof, but this could change before the Taylor coins launch depending on the previous week's gold average.

The Zachary Taylor $1 coins were released on November 24th, 2009, appearing only shortly before his wife's gold coin. This has been standard practice for the Mint.

The Margaret Taylor coin is the thirteenth in the First Spouse series, and the fifth for 2009. It was preceded this year by coins honoring Anna Harrison, Letitia Tyler, Julia Tyler and Sarah Polk.

For more information on the Margaret Taylor coins, click on the image above.

2009 Eagle Gold Coin

2009 Buffalo Gold Coin

The US Mint sold 13,500 of their 2009 American Buffalo Gold bullion coins to authorized dealers during the last seven days. 11,000 went the week prior. With the latest addition, their November total now stands at 29,000 and the year-to-date figure is at 145,500. And the year has been short for the coins, as the 2009 Buffalos were only released Oct. 15. At the current pace, they will surpass the 2008 sales of 172,000 in two weeks.

The one-ounce 2009 American Gold eagle bullion coins are even hotter. 41,500 were sold in the last seven days compared to the previous 30,000, which was more than double the prior figure. 74,500 have been purchased in November -- historically one of the better months of the year for bullion coins. The gold eagles finished last month with sales of 115,500, making October the 5th best ever for the series. Their year-to-date tally is 1,144,000.

2009 American Silver Eagles topped 25 million this week. (2009 has already been crowned the top-selling silver eagle year of all-time, and that was back in early October.) Their seven-day numbers rose by 750,000. That is actually down from the prior 850,000. However, with silver hitting a more than a one-year high on Tuesday, there seems a good chance for sales to pick up, and soon.

For reference, here are the US Mint bullion sales figures by month:

US Mint 2009 Bullion Coin Sales

*As of Nov. 19, early morning.