The United States Mint plans to offer 2,500 of the 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half Dollar Gold Proof Coins at the upcoming ANA Chicago World’s Fair of Money. Certain changes in procedure will be made to improve on how the Mint has offered special products at past conventions.
Details on the planned launch of the eagerly anticipated coin were shared by Marc Landry, the United States Mint’s Acting Associate Director of Sales & Marketing, during a teleconference held this morning.
The gold proof coin will be struck in three-quarters of an ounce of 24 karat gold at the West Point Mint. The dual date of “1964-2014” will appear on the obverse and the precious metal weight and purity will appear on the reverse. The coin will feature the original obverse portrait design from 1964 and the mint mark will be placed in the original location on the reverse. Pricing will be determined based on the average weekly market price of gold.
At the ANA convention, the coins will go on sale August 5, 2014 at 11:00 AM Central Time. From the total 2,500 of the coins that will be available at the convention, only 500 coins will be offered each day. Fifteen to thirty minutes before the start of sales, interested collectors will be asked to line up and receive tickets for their purchase. A limit of two coins per person will be imposed. There will be three cash registers at the booth to ring up sales, with two devoted exclusively to the Kennedy gold coins. The US Mint indicated that procedures and limits may be modified after the first day of offering.
The US Mint is seeking to improve their process of offering special coins from past conventions where customers had to wait for hours to purchase coins and long lines caused congestion. At prior conventions, only one sales register had been available to handle all purchases.
Besides the availability at the ANA convention, the 50th Anniversary Gold Kennedy Half Dollars will also be available for sale on the US Mint’s website and phone ordering system starting August 5, 2014 at 12:00 Noon ET. An ordering limit of 5 coins per household will be imposed for website and phone orders. Inventory will also be available at the retail locations at the Philadelphia and Denver Mint gift shops and US Mint headquarters in Washington, DC. A limit of two coins per household will be imposed at the retail locations.
Across all channels, the US Mint plans to have 40,000 of the gold coins available at the time of sale, which should avoid the fulfillment delays seen for some prior offerings. The Mint is seeking to have enough coins on hand to satisfy demand, while not overproducing. During the first week of sales, the Mint will evaluate sales trends and adjust production plans accordingly.
Two other products will also be offered to celebrate the 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half Dollar. The other products will include a two coin uncirculated set with clad half dollars and a four coin silver set with 90% silver half dollars struck at different facilities and carrying different finishes. The clad and silver coins will carry the 2014 date and feature the original portrait design from 1964. The two coin set is scheduled for release on July 24, 2014 and will also be available at the ANA convention. The four coin silver set will be released this fall.
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