El Yunque Nationl Forest is located in Puerto Rico and is the only tropical rainforest within the U.S. National Forest System. The reverse design of the coin features a Coqui tree frost sitting on a leaf and a Puerto Rican parrot behind an epiphyte plant with tropical flora in the background. Inscriptions around the outer edge read "El Yunque", "Puerto Rico", "2012", and "E Pluribus Unum".

The obverse design of the coin contains a portrait of George Washington designed by John Flanagan for the 1932 Washington Quarter. The inscriptions include "United States of America", "Liberty", "In God We Trust", and "Quarter Dollar".

The US mint offers bags and rolls of the El Yunque Quarters struck on the main production floors of the Philadelphia and Denver Mints. The packaging for each product indicates the name of the park, state abbreviation, year of issue, mint mark, and face value of the contents. The 100-coin bags are available from each mint and priced at $34.95. The two rolls sets contain one 40-coin roll from each mint and are priced at $32.95.

There is no stated maximum product limit or household ordering limit in place. The numismatic bags and rolls are expected to remain on sale for one year from the original release date. The products can be found online at http://catalog.usmint.gov

The El Yunque National Forest Quarters were entered circulation on January 23, 2012.

Related posts:

1. El Yunque National Forest Featured on Quarter
2. US Mint Launches Olympic National Park Quarter
3. Olympic National Park Featured on Quarter

Commemorative coin programs are authorized by acts of Congress to celebrate and honor American peoples, places, events, or institutions. The authorizing legislation dictates the specific denominations to be issued, maximum mintage levels, design requirements, and period of issue. Legislation also typically requires that certain surcharges be added to the cost of each coin for later distribution to a recipient organization or project.

The United States Army Commemorative Coin Program included $5 gold coins, silver dollars, and clad composition half dollars. The surcharges included within the sales price s for the coins were $35 per gold coin, $10 per silver coin, and $5 per half dollar. Based on sales figures, the program generated estimated total surcharges of $3,055,735.00. The funds are directed to be paid to the Army Historical Foundation to help finance the National Museum of the United States Army.

The Medal of Honor Commemorative Coin program included $5 gold coins and silver dollars. The surcharges included within the sales prices of the coins were $35 per gold coin and $10 per silver dollar. Based on the sales figures, the program generated estimated total surcharges of $2,495,395. The funds are directed to be paid to the Congressional Medal of Honor Foundation to help finance the educational, scholarship and outreach programs.

Under the requirements of United States Code Title 31, Section 5134(f), the surcharges may only be distributed provided that all numismatic program costs have been recovered. Additionally, the recipient organization must demonstrate that they have raised funds from private sources in an amount equal to or greater than the funds generated from commemorative coin surcharges. If the matching funds are not raised within two years of the conclusion of commemorative coin sales, then the surcharges are deposited in the Treasury as miscellaneous receipts.

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1. 2012 Star Spangled Banner Commemorative Coin Designs Announced
2. US Mint 2011 Commemorative Coin Sales Conclude Next Week
3. U.S. Mint Relists 2011 Gold Commemorative Coins at New Fixed Prices

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.

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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

The United States Mint offers numismatic versions of the America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins, featuring a special finish created through a vapor blasting technique and the "P" mint mark. Mintages have been limited to 27,000 for the 2010-dated releases and 35,000 for the 2011-dated releases. Initially, the coins were priced at $279.95 each, but this was later reduced to $229.95 on October 7, 2011, and finally to $204.95 effective December 27, 2011. On the date of the last price decrease, the market price of silver was around $28 per ounce.

Despite an increase in the market price of silver by about $5 per ounce, the US Mint has continued sales at the lowest price level. More collectors seem to have taken notice of the fact. In the latest week, the US Mint sold 3,563 coins across the four available designs. This is up from 2,931 coins sold in the previous week.

The 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle similarly had its price decreased effective December 27, 2011. Since that date, the one ounce coins with an uncirculated finish and the "W" mint mark have been priced at $45.95 each. In the latest week, collectors placed orders for 4,455 of the coins, up from 3,062 in the previous week.

Elsewhere in the sales report, the number of 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Sets sold has quickly deflated. The product debuted two weeks ago with sales of 61,181. The following week sales registered at 8,048. For the current week, sales moved up by only 1,190.

The complete US Mint numismatic product sales report appears below. The figures are compiled through January 30, 2012. The first number column represents total sales through the reporting date, and the second number column represents the change in sales since the last report. Products with sales followed by an asterisk (*) are no longer available from the United States Mint. Currently available US Mint products can be found online at http://catalog.usmint.gov/

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1. Sales Conclude This Week for US Mint 2010 Annual Sets
2. US Mint Begins, Suspends Sales of 2011-P Gettysburg 5 oz Silver Uncirculated Coins
3. Vicksburg 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Sales Slower

The 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters featured Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania, Glacier National Park in Montana, Olympic National Park in Washington, Vicksburg National Military Park in Mississippi, and Chickasaw National Recreation Area in Oklahoma.

The total mintage across the five different designs reached 391,200,000 compared to a mintage of 347,000,000 for the first five designs of the series issued in the previous year.

By individual design, the lowest overall mintage for the current  year was reported at 61,000,000 for the Olympic National Park Quarter. The highest overall mintage was 143,200,000 for the Chickasaw National Recreation Area Quarter.

2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Mintages

Mintage levels for the America the Beautiful Quarters still only represent a fraction of the number of coins issued for each design of the previous 50 State Quarters Program. In fact, production for the first ten designs of the ATB Quarters Program has still not reached the mintage level for the first design for the State Quarters Program. In 1999, the US Mint began the innovative program by producing 774,824,000 Delaware Quarters. Mintage levels rose in the following year, reaching a peak with the production 1,594,616,000 Virginia Quarters.

At the onset of the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, the US Mint attributed the lower production levels to decreased orders for new coinage placed by the Federal Reserve Banks. A large surplus of quarters had built up at the Federal Reserve Banks due to residual or redeposited coins from the State Quarters Program. Compounding the problem, the economic conditions of 2008 and 2009 caused a large number of previously issued quarters to return to active circulation, significantly reducing the need for additional payments to circulation by Reserve Banks. As a result of this situation, the Reserve Banks curtailed orders for new coinage and attempted to work down the existing surplus.

At the end of 2009, Federal Reserve Banks held about 3.8 billion quarters in inventory. This amount was reduced by 500 million as of May 31, 2010, according to testimony delivered by the Director of the Division of Reserve Bank Operations and Payment Systems. If the same rate of reduction was maintained throughout 2010 and 2011, the Reserve Banks may have finally reduced inventory levels enough to warrant increased orders for new quarters.

Based on the jump in production for the final quarter issued in 2011, this seems to be a distinct possibility. After two years of unusually low mintages, the America the Beautiful Quarters Program may see higher production and more widespread distribution in 2012.

Related posts:

1. US Mint Offers 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Circulating Coin Set
2. 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Release Dates
3. US Mint Releases 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Uncirculated Set

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.

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

On January 17, the US Mint began sales of the 2012 Quarters Proof Set, containing copper-nickel clad proof versions of each of this year's quarters. This followed the release of a set containing 90% silver proof versions of the quarters one week prior. The newly released clad version of the set achieved opening sales of 50,774 units. This was a slower start than the silver version of the set, which had debuted at 61,181.

The numbers for the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set are also down when compared to the similar five coin sets released in the prior two years. The 2010-dated set had debuted with sales of 75,558 and the 2011-dated set had debuted with sales of 53,944.

The 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle recorded its highest weekly sales total in more than two months at 449. To date, the US Mint has now recorded total sales of 12,920 out of the 15,000 maximum mintage. The price for the coin was increased by $100 on January 18, which may have prompted some collectors to order the coin early in the week ahead of the increase.

The recently released 2011-P Vicksburg National Military Park Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin achieved weekly sales of 1,752, bringing total sales to 9,613. The product first went on sale January 12. The US Mint has just announced that effective January 25 at 12:00 Noon, the household ordering limit for the product will be removed.

The complete US Mint numismatic product sales report appears below. The figures are compiled through January 23, 2012. The first number column represents total sales through the reporting date, and the second number column represents the change in sales since the last report. Products with sales followed by an asterisk (*) are no longer available from the United States Mint. Products listed in bold make their debut on this report. Currently available US Mint products can be found online at http://catalog.usmint.gov/

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1. US Mint Releases 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set
2. 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set
3. Sales Conclude This Week for US Mint 2010 Annual Sets

The American Silver Eagle was introduced in 1986, with the bullion version available through a network of authorized purchasers and collectible versions sold directly by the United States Mint. Initially, the Mint offered a single collectible proof version of the Silver Eagle as a recurring numismatic product. The standard proof coins carried the "S" mint mark from 1986 to 1992, the "P" mint mark from 1993 to 1999, and the "W" mint mark from 2000 to present.

An additional recurring numismatic version of the Silver Eagle was introduced in 2006. Referred to as collectible uncirculated versions, these coins were struck on specially burnished blanks and minted at the West Point Mint with the "W" mint mark. The coins have been sold individually and included in certain collector sets each year from 2006 to 2008, with the offering resumed in 2011.

Besides these two recurring numismatic products, the US Mint has periodically offered special anniversary sets to mark important milestones in the series. These sets have included one or more coins unique to the sets.

Within the US Mint's 2011 annual report, the Deputy Director of the United States Mint revealed the Mint's plans to offer a collectible uncirculated version of the Silver Eagle from the San Francisco Mint with the "S" mint mark for 2012. Last year, the US Mint had offered an uncirculated Silver Eagle with "S" mint mark only within the 25th Anniversary Set. The mention of the 2012-S Uncirculated Silver Eagle within the annual report seems to position the coin as a new recurring product offering, in addition to the collectible uncirculated version of the coin with the "W" mint mark and the proof version with the "W" mint mark.

Additional potential numismatic American Silver Eagles were revealed within a survey recently conducted on behalf of the United States Mint. The survey indicated that the Mint may consider offering a special 2012 American Silver Eagle Set, containing two coins only available within the set. According to information provided in the survey, the set would include a San Francisco proof coin with the "S" mint mark and a reverse proof coin with the "S" mint mark. The planned production level for the sets would be 200,000, with a household limit of two, and price of approximately $125. These sets would become another recurring annual offering with the next installment available in 2013.

The offering of the special two coin set still seems tentative, with subsequent survey questions asking preferences about other types of coins that could be included in the set. Options included uncirculated Silver Eagles with a special mint mark ("S" or "D"), proof Silver Eagles with a special mint mark ("S" or "D"), an ultra high relief version, reverse proof version, or proof and uncirculated versions carrying their customary mint marks.

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1. 2011 American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coins
2. 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle Pricing and Release Date
3. 2011-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle Sales at 1,098

The El Yunque National Forest Quarter depicts a Coqui tree frog and a Puerto Rican parrot. Also included in the design are the incused phrases “El Yunque”, “Puerto Rico”, and “E Pluribus Unum”, as well as the date of issue. The coin will represent the first issue of the United States Mint’s America the Beautiful Quarters Program for 2012, and the eleventh issue of the series overall.

The Federal Reserve Banks have published a circulation release date of January 23, 2012 for the El Yunque Quarter. The United States Mint has indicated a sales starting date of February 3, 2012 for circulating quality El Yunque Quarters within bags and rolls. An official launch ceremony has not yet been announced.

Throughout the year, the El Yunque National Forest Quarter will be available from the U.S. Mint in the following products:

• in 2-roll sets from the Philadelphia and Denver mints
• in 100-coin bags from the Philadelphia and Denver mints
• as part of the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarter Proof Set and Silver Proof Set
• as part of the 2012 Uncirculated Mint Set
• as part of the 2012 Proof Set and Silver Proof Set
• in the 2012 El Yunque National Forest Site Quarter Three-Coin Set
• as part of the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Uncirculated Coin Set
• as part of the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Circulating Coin Set

Visit www.usmint.gov for current prices and to order, or call 800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

Related posts:

1. Chickasaw National Recreation Area Featured on Quarter
2. Vicksburg National Military Park Featured on Quarter
3. Olympic National Park Featured on Quarter

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.

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1. US Mint Reduces Proof Platinum Eagle Price to Lowest Level
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3. US Mint Cuts Price for 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle