Public Law 110-456 authorized the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, which will feature a series of rotating reverse designs on the quarter dollar representing a national park or site in each state, territory, and the District of Columbia. The same law also provides for the issuance of five ounce .999 fine silver bullion coins featuring duplicate designs of the quarters. The law indicates that these bullion coins will be issued in quantities that the Secretary of the Treasury determines are appropriate.

With regards to the period of availability, the law states:

Bullion coins minted under paragraph (1)—
‘‘(A) shall become available for sale no sooner than the first day of the calendar year in which the circulating quarter dollar of which such bullion coin is a duplicate is issued; and
‘‘(B) may only be available for sale during the year in which such circulating quarter dollar is issued.

The 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters were launched into circulation on January 24, 2011 (Gettysburg), April 4, 2011 (Glacier), June 13, 2011 (Olympic), August 29, 2011 (Vicksburg), and November 14, 2011 (Chickasaw).

Based on these release dates and in accordance with (A), each of the 2011-dated America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins could be released no sooner than January 1, 2011. The bullion coins actually went on sale to authorized purchasers on April 25, 2011 (Gettysburg and Glacier), May 23, 2011 (Olympic), June 20, 2011 (Vicksburg), and July 18, 2011 (Chickasaw).

The US Mint has interpreted (B) "may only be available for sale during the year in which such circulating quarter dollar is issued" to mean that the coins can be available for sale during any year in which the corresponding quarter dollar is issued.

Michael White of the United States Mint Office of Public Affairs provided this statement from the legal department:

Regarding the sale of 2011-dated ATB Silver Bullion coins in 2012, 31 U.S.C. § 5112(d)(1) in part states, “coins have an inscription of the year of minting or issuance.”  This means an ATBQ coin that is minted in, say, 2010, can be issued in 2011 (and, indeed, they were issued in 2011).  So when 31 U.S.C. § 5112(u)(2)(B) states, “may only be available for sale during the year in which such circulating quarter dollar is issued,” it means that the 2010 5-ounce silver bullion ATBQ coins can also be issued in 2011 (because 2011 is a “year in which such circulating quarter dollar [i.e., the 2010 ATBQ coin] is issued.”

Even if this is a valid interpretation, it is arguable that this was not truly the intention of the authorizing legislation. The United States Mint generally does have the authority to issue coins across multiple years, unless there is a specific requirement otherwise. The 2010-dated America the Beautiful Quarters have actually continued to be issued into 2012 within various numismatic products sold to collectors. The "issuance" of coins in this fashion can continue for many years into the future, making the sales limitation on bullion coins, as the US Mint is interpreting it, essentially meaningless.

The intention of the law was more likely to limit sales of the bullion coins to the initial year of issue for the corresponding quarter. Under this interpretation, the 2010-dated ATB Quarters regardless of year minted were initially issued in 2010 and the bullion coins could only be available for sale during the year 2010. In fact, the legislation states “may only be available for sale during the year in which the circulating quarter dollar is issued.” It does not say the years (plural) or provide any other indication that the limitation on sales should be so limitless.

The sales limitation specified under the law did not come into play for the release of the 2010-dated America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins. The US Mint was only able to produce 33,000 coins for each of the five designs, which were all made available to authorized purchasers in early December 2011. All 165,000 of the coins were sold to authorized purchasers by December 23, 2011.

For the 2011-dated coins, the US Mint had recorded sales of 397,700 coins by the end of the 2011 calendar year. During 2012, the US Mint has sold an additional 5,700 of the 2011-dated coins based on the latest available sales figures.

The US Mint has confirmed plans to offer both bullion and numismatic versions of the 2012 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins in reduced quantities. Information on the releases dates is not yet known.

Related posts:

1. Slow Sales Continue for 2011 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins
2. 2011 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin Sales Slower
3. 2011 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin Sales Reach 237,800

The month of January has traditionally been one of the strongest for US Mint bullion sales. This is driven by strong demand for the newly dated versions of the coins from collectors and dealers. The Mint began sales of the 2012 Gold and Silver Eagles on January 3, 2012. For the first time in several years, initial orders were not subject to allocation, as adequate supplies of coins were available to meet anticipated demand. Opening day orders reached 3,197,000 of the one ounce Silver Eagle bullion coins and 37,500 ounces worth of Gold Eagle bullion coins, across the four different sizes available.

For the full month of January 2012, Silver Eagle sales reached 6,107,000. This is significantly higher than sales levels for the prior two months when the Mint sold 1,384,000 coins in November and 2,009,000 coins in December 2011. Compared to the year ago period, the monthly sales total registers a small decline. In January 2011, sales reached a monthly record of 6,422,000.

For January 2012, Gold Eagle bullion sales included 84,500 one ounce coins, 49,000 half ounce coins, 38,000 quarter ounce coins, and 85,000 tenth ounce coins, representing a total of 127,000 ounces. Once again this was higher than the previous two months when the Mint sold 41,000 ounces worth of coins in November and 65,500 ounces worth of coins in December 2010. Compared to the year ago period, the sales total shows a slight decline. In January 2011, sales had reached 133,500 ounces.

The United States Mint distributes American Gold and Silver Eagle bullion coins through a network of authorized purchasers. These authorized purchasers may buy the coins in bulk quantities based on the market price of the precious metals plus a fixed mark up of $2 per silver coin and a percentage mark up of 3%, 5%, 7%, and 9% for one ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce, and tenth ounce gold coins. The bullion coins are then resold to secondary dealers and/or the public.

Related posts:

1. American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins May Return in 2012
2. Opening 2012 Gold and Silver Eagle Sales Top Prior Year Levels
3. 2012 Gold and Silver Eagle Bullion Coins

Since early 2009, the US Mint has utilized a flexible pricing policy for numismatic gold and platinum coins that allows adjustments to be made as frequently as weekly. Prior to the adoption of the policy, pricing changes were published in the Federal Register, which could result in lengthy sales suspensions.

Under the policy, the average weekly price of gold is calculated based on the London Fix prices from the previous Thursday AM to the current Wednesday AM. If the average weekly prices moves into a different tier (established at $50 intervals for gold and $100 intervals for platinum), then product prices are adjusted based on the precious metals content. As an additional criteria, the Wednesday PM London Fix price must agree directionally with any potential change.

The latest price increase was made effective earlier today. The basis for the new prices is a weekly average gold price within the $1,650 to $1,699.99 range. Prices were adjusted proportionally by $50 for each ounce of gold content. The impacted products included the 2011 Proof Gold Eagles, 2011 Proof Gold Buffalo, and 2011 First Spouse Gold Coins.

Since the start of the year, the market price of silver has also moved steadily higher, increasing from about $29 per ounce to more than $33 per ounce. The US Mint does not have a flexible mechanism for adjusting the prices for numismatic silver coin offerings. Rather these prices must be adjusted through publication in the Federal Register. Current silver products include the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins, 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagles, September 2011 Silver Medals, annual Silver Proof Sets, and America the Beautiful Quarter Silver Proof Sets.

The prices for the ATB Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins and 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagles were decreased effective December 27, 2011. Prices for the other products have remained unchanged through the recent volatility in silver prices.

Related posts:

1. US Mint Increases Prices for 2011 Numismatic Gold Coins
2. US Mint Reduces Prices for Numismatic Gold Coins
3. US Mint Numismatic Gold Coin Prices Increased Again

So, much of what I write is devoted to shining light on the data that the mainstream media ignores, omits, or distorts.  Here are some more examples.

From a lot of headlines in the past month, many people might be sensing that the US economy is slowly starting to improve.  This apparent good news could come from reports that consumer sales are up, banks are earning more profits, consumer prices are holding the line, and employment is rising.

Unfortunately, each of these points is unfounded and contradicted by the underlying facts.

Sure, the Bureau of Economic Analysis (BEA) reports that general business activity in the United States has recovered to its pre-recession levels.  If that really were true, you would think that at least one other major economic series would confirm that information.  None of them do.  While the BEA claims that Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is growing, inflation-adjusted data for retail sales, production and housing show either slow growth or outright contraction on either month-to-month or year-to-year basis.

While the Commerce Department Bureau of Labor Statistics most recently reported that GDP has grown almost 2% from year earlier levels, researcher John Williams at www.shadowstats.com reports that US GDP has been continuously declining since 2007!

Just after Thanksgiving weekend, there was an outpouring of positive reports on holiday season sales.  Some of these were derived simply by counting the number of people in malls rather than obtaining actual sales data.  Then there were reports of higher car and truck sales by the manufacturers.  Well the truth is coming out now, and it’s not very rosy.  Supposedly, overall holiday shopping exceeded 2010 levels by 3-4%.  However, if you discount this increase by the more than 3% consumer price increase from the prior year as reported by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, sales were flat.  If you instead use real world consumer price increase data such as computed by John Williams, consumer prices were almost 6% higher than a year earlier.  Using this data, the quantity of goods sold in the 2011 holiday season was actually down from what was sold in 2010!

It’s no wonder that chains like Sears, Kmart, and Bloomingdale’s announced more store closings and others like Tiffany reported falling sales.

Even the automotive sales figures are rigged.  Automotive companies record sales when vehicles are moved onto dealer lots, not when they are sold to consumers.  In 2011, dealer inventories have grown so much that this almost completely accounts for the so-called boom in automotive sales.

Then there are the deceptive quarterly profit reports from major US banks.  Bank of America claimed it made $2 billion in the most recent quarter.  However, in the fine print, the Bank acknowledges that it had not yet recorded bad debt losses from fraudulent mortgages by $5 billion.  As part of its assets, Bank of America lists $125 billion in home equity loans.  A high percentage of home mortgages are underwater, where the mortgage exceeds the value of the property—in which case the home equity loans are technically worthless!  It is likely that Bank of America has yet to book sufficient losses that it is facing on this category of assets.

As for JPMorgan Chase, it was sued last week for allegedly fabricating documents in order to recover a greater amount of funds in bankruptcy proceedings.  I suspect that such suits will likely be settled before trial, at a cost to the bank that is probably going to run into the billions.

For all of 2011, the construction industry broke ground on 607,000 new homes, according to the Commerce Department.  That was up 3.4% from 2010, which is good news.  However, the median average price at which all homes, new and previously occupied, changed hands in 2011 declined to its lowest level since 2002.  For the housing sector to return to normal, new housing starts would have to rise to 1 to 1.5 million per year.

According to the Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 135,254,000 non-farm civilian workers in the US in December 2008.  Three years later, even though the US population increased by several million, the number of non-farm civilian workers had declined by over 2-1/2 million.  There were just over 8.9 million unemployed in December 2008, but the total soared to more than 13.7 million three years later.

The unemployment picture is supposedly improving.  However, John Williams calculates the unemployment rate using the methodology employed by Bureau of Labor Statistics until 1993.  By that formulation, US unemployment levels are currently about 22%.

Interest rates and mortgage rates may be close to all-time record low levels.  And the Dow Jones Industrial Average may be holding at elevated levels even as US investors are consistently abandoning the stock markets.  The interest rates and Dow Jones average are all manipulated by the US Treasury and the government’s trading partners—sometimes openly admitted.

If things were really so wonderful as the mainstream media is reporting, then there would be no reason for the Federal Open Market Committee to announce any major plans at the conclusion of their meeting Wednesday.  But I would not be at all surprised if they stated that they find it necessary to stimulate the real estate market.  However carefully they may couch their language, I expect the Fed will start to unveil the next round of inflation of the money supply, this time on the order of $1 trillion.

Such a step will inevitably drive down the value of the US dollar even further.  Gold and silver prices will rise even faster.  And those who believed the mainstream media and failed to protect themselves will be even poorer.

Patrick A. Heller owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Michigan and writes "Liberty's Outlook," a monthly newsletter covering rare coins and precious metals. Past issues can be found online at http://www.libertycoinservice.com/ Pat Heller is also the gold market commentator for Numismatic News. Past columns online at http://numismaster.com/ under “News & Articles". His bimonthly columns on collectibles can also be read at http://www.lansingbusinessmonthly.com under “Articles” and “Department Columns.”His radio show “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 AM Wednesday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com.

Related posts:

1. The General Public Is Getting Wise About US Dollar Decline
2. Are Gold And Silver Prices Ready To Soar In The Next Two Weeks?
3. US Mint Requests Public Comment on Factors to Consider During Metallic Coinage Materials Research

The one ounce proof 2011 Platinum Eagle continues the six year design series depicting the core concepts of American democracy found in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution. This year's design depicts the concept "To Insure Domestic Tranquility" with the image of a harvest goddess emerging from a field of wheat. She holds a stalk of wheat in her left hand, with her right hand extended to a landing dove.

The price of the coin has been raised to $1,792 from the previous price of $1,692. The change is based on an average weekly market price of platinum within the $1,450 to $1,549.99 range. Pricing may be adjusted weekly if the average market price of platinum moves into a different pricing tier, established at $100 intervals.

As of the most recent available sales report, the United States Mint has sold 12,471 of the 2011 Proof Platinum Eagles. The product has a maximum authorized mintage of 15,000 pieces.

Related posts:

1. US Mint Reduces Proof Platinum Eagle Price to Lowest Level
2. US Mint Reduces Prices for Numismatic Gold Coins
3. US Mint Cuts Price for 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle

Perhaps another story from history and then a look at how people in two nations are today coping with troubled currencies will provide more light on the subject.

The failure of the Continental dollar in the Revolutionary War deeply scarred the national psyche.  As a result, the US Constitution specifically prohibited any state from making anything but gold or silver legal tender in payment of debts.  Though paper currency was common in most European nations by then, the US government did not issue any paper money until the beginning of the Civil War, 74 years after the Constitution was written.

This issue of unbacked paper money (called Greenbacks) to help finance the Union’s cost of pursuing the war was advocated by Treasury Secretary Salmon P. Chase.  The lawsuits contesting the legality of the US government issuing unbacked paper money did not reach the US Supreme Court for several years.  When they did, it happened that Salmon Chase was then one of the justices serving on the Court.  Initially, Chase voted with the majority to affirm that his actions to issue unbacked paper money was unconstitutional.  After President Grant appointed two new judges, the new majority ratified the legality of paper money issues, though Chase still voted that his own actions in the Civil War were unconstitutional.

Even as Americans were legally required to accept Greenbacks as legal tender, it didn’t work smoothly in California.  Though these notes stated that they were acceptable for payment of import duties, even Customs officials in California did not like receiving them.  Until well into the 1870s, any Californian who forced a merchant to accept paper money instead of gold in payment would find that merchants would thereafter refuse to do business with him or her!

To help the public accept US government paper money, the Treasury began issuing Silver Certificates, redeemable for silver dollars, in 1880 and Gold Certificates, redeemable for gold coins, in 1882.

Now let’s discuss the falling paper money values in modern-day Vietnam and Iran.

Vietnam’s inflation of the paper money supply has been such a problem for the past several years that citizens in that country have to use gold for payment when purchasing real estate.  Although the government technically prohibits posting of prices in gold, buyers have learned that sellers will only sell if they receive gold.

The country of Iran is going through severe problems with a declining fiat currency.  In just the past month, the Iranian rial has fallen about 1/3 against the US dollar.  This is causing an enormous disruption in the economy.  The government’s official policy there is to discourage transactions priced in US dollars, but the citizens, as much as they dare, are switching to using US dollars, gold, or consumer goods to preserve the wealth.

The Iranian government has already banned foreign exchange businesses from dealing in US dollars.  In the past week, the government has started to crack down on the black market currency traders who might be dealing in US dollars.

The Iranian rial has not failed--yet.  However, in the past month the imports of goods into the country have ground to a virtual halt as sellers are unwilling to accept rials in payment.  Citizens are aggressively withdrawing their funds from bank accounts that are paying 17% interest to convert them either into US dollars, gold, or consumer goods.

The important point is that even though the Iranian rial has not yet failed, the public is adjusting their spending habits and their means of storing wealth.  Former exporters to that country have already switched to accepting payment in alternative currencies.  In the process, there are some severe economic disruptions, many of which are caused by government efforts to prevent citizens from taking steps to protect their financial well-being.  However, should the rial eventually collapse, that event will be less traumatic because those affected by it will be well on the way to using alternative monetary systems.

That is the key point to understand should the US dollar eventually fail.  In reality, the US dollar is following down the path towards collapse, just like the Iranian rial.  Long before the dollar crashed, there would be greater economic turmoil in this country as people sought to protect their wealth by abandoning dollars for stable assets like gold, silver, and consumer goods.  The process will be made even worse to the extent that the US government tries to interfere with people peacefully serving their own self-interest.  There will be civil unrest.  And I do expect the American standard of living would decline. All of this will develop before the dollar fails.  The actual event of the failure of the US dollar will not be very important.

However a dollar crash could bring on an opportunity for people to adopt a stable monetary system beyond government interference, which could form part of the base to regrow the economy.  Although there is no magical reason why they should, I expect that the multi-thousand year track record of gold and silver as a safe haven asset will result in them becoming a major component of any stable monetary system.

An important follow up issue is whether the US dollar and economy are too far gone, making a collapse inevitable.  Sadly, I think it has.  But that is a subject to discuss another day.

Patrick A. Heller owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Michigan and writes "Liberty's Outlook," a monthly newsletter covering rare coins and precious metals. Past issues can be found online at http://www.libertycoinservice.com/ Pat Heller is also the gold market commentator for Numismatic News. Past columns online at http://numismaster.com/ under “News & Articles". His bimonthly columns on collectibles can also be read at http://www.lansingbusinessmonthly.com under “Articles” and “Department Columns.”His radio show “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 AM Wednesday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com.

Related posts:

1. Would It Really Be So Bad If the US Dollar Failed?
2. Buy Silver! Buy Gold! Buy Now!
3. Now—Where Will the US Government Find a Creditor to Loan It $2+ Trillion?

But, if you really think about it, maybe it wouldn’t be quite that horrific.

Here’s what happened in other countries that recently experienced a failed or replaced currency.

The African nation of Zimbabwe suffered such high inflation of the money supply that reached 49 billion percent per month by early 2009!  One writer told me of visiting the country a few years ago.  After he checked into his hotel, he went to the pool for a dip.  He passed the bar on the way and asked how much it cost for a beer.  The bartender told him $100 million. After he cooled off in the pool, he stopped at the bar to order that beer and was told that the price was now to $150 million!  By 2008 the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe was issuing $100 Trillion notes.

With prices changing so rapidly, commerce nearly ground to a standstill.  Merchants found it almost impossible to purchase inventory and then price it for sale.  Consequently, few merchants had any goods to offer to sell.

On January 31, 2009, the government announced that the South African rand, Euro, US dollar, and other currencies would be legal tender in the country.  The government suspended the use of Zimbabwe’s currency on April 13, 2009.

In a mid-2010 report, trade policy analyst Albert Makochekanwa stated that Zimbabwe’s inflation rate immediately fell to less than 1% per month.  Within a year, manufacturing and production activity in the country had increased by 35%.

By being able to buy goods for payment with currencies that suppliers would accept, local merchants were again able to purchase and sell merchandise.  Stores that previously had little or no inventory could now operate normally and profitably.

The result of the failure of the Zimbabwe dollar was a huge economic boom!

A similar story resulted after Ecuador abolished its own sucre on September 15, 2000 and declared the US dollar to be the standard legal tender.  At the time of changeover, it took 25,000 sucres to equal one US dollar.  As an interesting side note, Ecuadorians are not comfortable carrying paper money, so the US Mint shipped 500 million 2000-dated Sacagawea dollars to Ecuador to satisfy demand for coinage.

There was even a currency failure in early American history.  The Continental Dollars issued during the Revolutionary War quickly fell so far in value that they inspired the phrase “Not worth a Continental.”   The new nation eventually established a relatively stable dollar defined as a fixed weight and purity of silver or gold.  The government also redeemed outstanding Continental Currency at the rate of one new dollar for every 100 Continental dollars, though it took until the early 1800's to fully pay off this exchange.

But, just like what happened in modern Zimbabwe and Ecuador, the ability to use a stable currency, even during times when multiple forms of money circulated side by side, the US economy started growing.

If the US dollar failed today, there would be significant problems, in large part because of the widespread use of the dollar as an international reserve currency.  So any transition would not be as smooth as experienced by Zimbabwe or Ecuador.  However, as long as the US government did not try to impose a new fiat monetary system, I am confident that the free market would quickly establish a stable monetary system that would spark the return of prosperity faster than most people expect.

I’m not necessarily saying that the US government is mismanaging the US dollar so badly that it will soon fail.  But I am saying that if the dollar failed, I don’t think it would be as bad a development as most people would fear.

Patrick A. Heller owns Liberty Coin Service in Lansing, Michigan and writes "Liberty's Outlook," a monthly newsletter covering rare coins and precious metals. Past issues can be found online at http://www.libertycoinservice.com/ Pat Heller is also the gold market commentator for Numismatic News. Past columns online at http://numismaster.com/ under “News & Articles". His bimonthly columns on collectibles can also be read at http://www.lansingbusinessmonthly.com under “Articles” and “Department Columns.”His radio show “Things You ‘Know’ That Just Aren’t So, And Important News You Need To Know” can be heard at 8:45 AM Wednesday mornings on 1320-AM WILS in Lansing (which streams live and becomes part of the audio and text archives posted at http://www.1320wils.com.

Related posts:

1. US Dollar Threatened from Several Directions
2. What Is The US Dollar (Or Gold Or Silver) Worth?
3. US Dollar Suffers Severe Blow at Meeting of BRICS Nations

The American Platinum Eagle was introduced in 1997, complementing the US Mint's existing gold and silver bullion coin offerings. The Platinum Eagles were struck in .9995 purity and available in one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce sizes. The coins carried legal tender denominations of $10, $25, $50, and $100, the latter being the highest denomination ever used in U.S. coinage. Like the US Mint's other bullion offerings, the coins were distributed through a network of authorized purchasers, who were able to buy the coins from the Mint in bulk quantities for resale to secondary distributors and the public.

The Platinum Eagle bullion coins first went on sale to authorized purchasers on September 23, 1997. In just under six months, more than 100,000 ounces worth of platinum was sold through the program. Despite the strong initial interest, by the third year of the program, sales levels began to diminish. Annual sales reached their lowest level in 2007, when just 9,050 ounces worth of platinum were sold.

In 2008, demand for the Platinum Eagle bullion coins increased, as was the case for gold and silver bullion coins. The US Mint recorded sales of 33,700 ounces worth of platinum bullion coins before announcing a suspension of production in order to devote additional resources to the production of gold and silver bullion coins.

The following year, production of platinum bullion coins was announced as delayed and later cancelled altogether. Unlike American Gold and Silver Eagles, which must be produced to meet public demand, the production of the American Platinum Eagle is not legally mandated, rather it is at the discretion of the Secretary of the Treasury. The US Mint did produce and offer one ounce proof versions of the 2009 Platinum Eagle for collectors. The maximum mintage of 8,000 coins promptly sold out.

The situation was similar for 2010 and 2011. Platinum Eagle bullion coins were not minted or issued, but one ounce proof versions were struck in limited quantities and offered to collectors.

Recently, the US Mint has stated that they are evaluating in conjunction with their authorized purchasers the optimum way to bring back the bullion versions of the American Platinum Eagle in 2012. While this will be a welcome return for many collectors and precious metal investors, the US Mint will find itself facing increased competition from other world mints. After the US Mint had suspended and cancelled production of their platinum bullion coins, other world mints had revived or created products to fill the void.

In 2009, the Royal Canadian Mint resumed the offering of Platinum Maple Leaf bullion coins. The product had originally been introduced in 1988, but was suspended in 1999 when demand for the coins began to drop.

In 2011, the Perth Mint of Australia introduced the Platinum Platypus bullion coins. The Perth Mint had last offered a platinum bullion coin in 2000, but withdrew the offering amidst low sales. The new offering has fared much better, with the inaugural issue selling out of the 30,000 maximum production, followed by the recent release of the 2012 Platinum Platypus.

Related posts:

1. 2012 Gold and Silver Eagle Bullion Coins
2. Silver Eagle Bullion Sales Move into Record Territory
3. San Francisco Mint Silver Eagle Bullion Coins To Be Released

The US Mint uses a flexible pricing policy for numismatic gold and platinum coins, which allows adjustments to be made as often as weekly based on the average market prices of the metals. Before the adoption of the policy, pricing changes needed to be published in the Federal Register, which could result in lengthy sales suspensions.

The average weekly prices for gold and platinum are calculated based on the London Fix prices from the previous Thursday AM to the current Wednesday AM. If the average weekly prices moves into a different tier (established at $50 intervals for gold and $100 intervals for platinum), then product prices are adjusted based on the precious metals content. As an additional criteria, the Wednesday PM London Fix price must agree directionally with any potential change.

Pricing updates were made effective on Wednesday. The basis for the newly effective prices is a weekly average gold price within the $1,600 to $1,649.99 range, one tier higher than the previous range. Prices were adjusted for the remaining 2011 Proof Gold Eagles, 2011-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle, 2011 Proof Gold Buffalo, and 2011 First Spouse Gold Coins.

Related posts:

1. US Mint Reduces Prices for Numismatic Gold Coins
2. US Mint Increases Numismatic Gold Coin Prices
3. US Mint Increases Gold and Platinum Numismatic Product Prices

Bullion coins produced by the US Mint are distributed through a network of authorized purchasers who are able to buy the coins in bulk quantities based on the market price of the precious metals plus a mark up. The bullion coins are then distributed to secondary dealers and the broader public.

On the opening day of availability, January 3, 2012, authorized purchasers ordered 3,197,000 of the one ounce Silver Eagle bullion coins. Through January 4, 2012, orders for Silver Eagle bullion coins have now reached 3,372,000. These amounts include both the 2012 Silver Eagles as well as some 2011-dated coins. Before the close of last year, the US Mint had indicated that there was a remaining inventory of 2011-dated coins. As long as this inventory remained, authorized purchasers would be required to order one 2011-dated coin for every four 2012-dated coins ordered.

This year's opening sales for Silver Eagles surpass the numbers seen in the two prior years. The stronger sales may be the result of the lack of an allocation program imposed by the Mint. For the start of sales in 2010 and 2011, the US Mint rationed available quantities of the coins amongst authorized purchasers. This year, the Mint indicated that supplies would not be rationed as sufficient quantities of the coins would be available.

For January 2011, the US Mint had recorded full month sales of 6,422,000 ounces of American Silver Eagles. This amount set a new record for monthly sales.

On the opening day, authorized purchasers ordered 37,500 ounces worth of American Gold Eagles. As of today, orders have risen to 45,500 ounces. This includes a mix of one ounce, half ounce, quarter ounce, and tenth ounce coins.

Before the close of last year, the US Mint indicated that inventories of quarter ounce and half ounce 2011-dated coins would be offered at a discount and 2011-dated tenth ounce coins would be sold on a ratio basis with the 2012-dated tenth ounce coins. The 2012 Gold Eagles would be available across all four sizes.

In January 2011, the US Mint had recorded full month sales of 133,500 ounces worth of American Gold Eagles.

Related posts:

1. American Platinum Eagle Bullion Coins May Return in 2012
2. US Mint Offers AP’s Discount on Gold Eagles
3. 2012 Gold and Silver Eagle Bullion Coins