US Mint Sales: Slow Start for Latest Numismatic 5 Ounce Silver Coin

Comments

1. CaptainOverkill says:
   August 2, 2011 at 12:29 pm

   Unsurprising results. I’ve been speculating for some time that since Mt. Hood is the least attractive of the 2010 designs, the least well-known of the 2010 national parks, and also late into the series with collector budgets badly tapped out, that sales would suffer a significant drop. The only thing that caught me off guard is how steep the decline was – I did not expect the initial sales number to fall below 15,000. Combine this with the incredibly low sales of the Chickasaw bullion (which is a shame as it’s my favorite 2011 AtB) http://www.numismaticnews.net/article/chickasaw-sales-start-slow , and you have a major problem for this series.

   Frankly were I in the Mint’s position, I’d cancel the AtB-Ps and just focus on production of the bullion at this point. A lot of the buyers of the P series would probably migrate over to the bullion and give that portion of the AtB program some buying support. Unfortunately, given their recent purchase of new water vapor blasting equipment for the AtBs, it looks like there will probably be at least a 2011-P series and maybe even beyond. Though there may still be hope, since the 2011-Ps are still TBA on the Mint’s catalog.
2. Brad says:
   August 2, 2011 at 1:13 pm

   It’s time to remove the “one per household” ordering limit on the ATB P coins, at least on the Grand Canyon version. I’m pretty sure that everyone who wants one has had ample time to buy it themselves. I thought the Mint would have done that by now, but it appears I was wrong.

   Maybe the only reason the limit was removed for Yosemite was due to the whole “erroneous” posting of the wait-list notice fiasco. The Mint might not have had confidence that all of the coins would sell after that, so it was freed up for the “double-dippers.” It’s starting to look like the limit might last for the remainder of the Grand Canyon sales period, however. I don’t get it.
3. CaptainOverkill says:
   August 2, 2011 at 5:05 pm

   Mint seems to have just put up a release date of September 29th for the uncirculated silver eagle. Haven’t seen any news items about it yet.
4. SilverSurfer says:
   August 2, 2011 at 6:19 pm

   gold up over $1650 today. Any chance of another price increase this week or would it be next week at the earliest?
5. Brad says:
   August 2, 2011 at 7:42 pm

   The price increase would be next week at the earliest. The price fixes this past week were low enough to hold the average down to the current pricing tier.

   If the fixes starting on Thursday are still above $1,650 high enough and long enough to trigger another increase, the First Spouse proof coins will cost $1,004. Ouch! That’s a far cry from the $429.95 they cost just 4 short years ago when the program first started!
6. SilverSurfer says:
   August 2, 2011 at 9:39 pm

   The AGE unc coins had much lower sales this past week and I am guessing sales might be about 6500 by the end of the year and maybe another 2000-2500 more sold next year if they remain on sale for about a year but sales are so erratic from week to week and how long they will remain on sale is also uncertain. So I still think there might be a chance the 2011 unc AGE will have a lower sales figure than the 2008 1/4 oz @ 8.800 but if these erratic sales figures from week to week continue and this coin does remain on sale for about a full year sales could be well over 10,000.

   And there is still no information on any 25th anniversary eagles this year so it appears less likely the mint will be offering any so I suppose this might at least help keep sales figures low for the unc AGE’s. I do wish they would at least change the reverse design on the AGE’s (but keep the obverse the same) – seems like this year would have been a good year for it. But at least one side has an appealing classic design so maybe I shouldn’t complain – and change isn’t always for the better anyway.
7. SDP says:
   August 2, 2011 at 10:06 pm

   Anyone extrapolate out the proof buffalo? It would be the second lowest mintage after 2008. I can’t stomach dropping all that money for both the AGE and buffalo.
8. SilverSurfer says:
   August 2, 2011 at 11:43 pm

   I would like to get a proof buffalo if gold prices come down a little and I can get the money together.Esp. since like you said the mintage figures should be relatively low this year. So far my only gold purchase this year is a 2011 unc AGE. If sales of the proof buffaloes continue at about 2000 a month at the end of the year that would be a total of about 25.000. – about half the sales of 2009 & 2010 but a little more than 2008. But total figures will also will depend how long they remain on sale. I’m guessing they will sell out before the AGE’s. This would be my first gold buffalo and I’m very tempted this year to buy one if I can.
9. Brad says:
   August 3, 2011 at 8:28 am

   It looks like the Mint’s initial production run of 2011 W Unc AGE was only 4,000 coins. It’s on backorder status now (but shows it will be available for shipping yesterday, go figure).

   Sometimes the second production run seems like it’s only half as many as the first. That would put it around 6,000. Even if another 4,000 are minted, a mintage of 8,000 would still make it the lowest-mintage AGE ever, for any size.

   If the high gold spot prices of the past couple days hold for very long, next week the coin will cost $1,928. I’m glad I bought mine for $1,778!
10. SilverSurfer says:
    August 3, 2011 at 1:49 pm

    Brad,

    I just checked the mint website and I don’t see a back order notice. Maybe it has changed since this morning. But that is interesting info. It’s only been on sale less than 3 months. I wonder if the same thing might happen to the proof buffaloes soon. I wish I was able to buy a proof buffalo a couple of weeks ago when prices were lower. I have only been able to get one gold coin so far this year and I bought an unc AGE. Just a few weeks ago I was hoping for a price decrease when gold was briefly below $1500. Now there have been 2 price increases and probably a third next week with gold over $1650. It’s getting more and more expensive to buy almost every week now.
11. SilverSurfer says:
    August 3, 2011 at 3:25 pm

    I just noticed the 1oz proof AGE is back ordered for 9-16-11. These coins should still be about 5,000 away from their single coin production limit.
12. Brad says:
    August 3, 2011 at 4:49 pm

    Yeah, the backorder notice was removed not too long after I posted that comment. I had first noticed it last night. Maybe it was an error, since it stated the coin would be available for shipping on 8/2, which was the same day the notice appeared. Still, it got me to thinking that the first batch might be just about gone. Time will tell, I guess.
13. Unhappy Grandma says:
    August 3, 2011 at 11:42 pm

    Of the 2010 ATB’s the only attractive coin was the Yellowstone Park coin. I look forward to the 2011 coins—they seem to have a bit more character. It is tiring to just look at ROCK, some water and trees. I like those that show animals, boats, flowers if there are any—-the Gettysburgs Minuteman. My grandson and I look the coins over together—–he is three and this will be his collection.