Bucket of Coins

Once again, another month has past and the US Mint’s release of their production for the month have been posted. The numbers for August seem to be on cue with what we have seen with the prior releases of the Birthplace Log Cabin and Formative Years Log Splitter cents. I am going to continue to stick by my guns and keep my assumption that July’s production numbers were reflective of the minting of the Professional Life penny.  That being said the Denver mint produced 216.0 million in July and August production numbers reflect another 141.6 million produced for a total Professional Life Lincoln cent mintage of 357.6 thus far.  However, the Philadelphia mint production appears to have finally topped the 400+ million LP3 cents being produced thus far by taking the July number of 284.9 million and adding August’s 145.2 million for a 2009 Lincoln Cent high mintage of 430.1 million through September 1. The total mintage across all series for 2009 Lincoln cents are 976.0 million for Denver mint and 957.2 million in Philadelphia for a total mintage of all 2009 pennies of 1933.2 Million or 1.9332 Billion.

It looks like out of all the series the LP1 Birthplace Log Cabins are going be the short run of the four series as it appears they continue to increase each production run. Keep in mind these numbers do not count mint/proof sets.

Well as 1000’s of 2009 Lincoln cent fans continue to wet their whistle for the next release featuring Lincoln’s Professional life, the US Mint has been busy preparing for it as well. The July production numbers have been released. It appears after last month’s limited production that July was a month of minting the Professional life cent. As seen before with the Log Cabin release, the Philadelphia mint produced about 24% less 2009 Lincoln cents between July 1 and August 1. The Philadelphia mint produced 216 million while the Denver Mint produced 284.8 million new pennies.  The graph below will illustrate and updated as if  this past month production as being the first month of production of 2009 Lincoln Professional life cents. Total production runs through 2009 cents are 834.4 million for the Denver Mint and 812 million for the Philadelphia Mint for a total of 1646.4 million.

2009 Lincoln Cent Mintages through August 1

As many have noticed the Log Cabin and Formative years pennies are now being found in change in most states, while full boxes have become more plentiful in the aftermarket arena. There seemed to be a larger distribution of the Formative Rail splitter cents than the Log Cabins. Perhaps this is the case due to the 2nd issue LP2s were placed in front of the LP1 Log Cabins. It will be interesting to see how long it will take for the Professional life cents to make it to circulation. Once again the Springfield, IL launch at the Old Capitol building anticipates over 10,000 participants to be amongst the first to obtain the 3rd design change for the 2009 Lincoln aka LP3. Also, the US Mint will be selling the two roll sets at noon EST for those not able to attend the Springfield event.

I was planning on attending, but after hearing the numbers and having attended the Hodgenville, KY and the Lincoln City, IN launches, I do not think it is worth my time or gas to stand in that kind of line especially if they are planning to limit the number of rolls a person can buy. I guess I am confused, why not sell boxes? If the public wants them let them have them…as we see within 5 months both of the first two releases are available and accessible. I saw were a box of  the Philadelphia mint log cabins that once sold for $750+ a box when they were only available at Hodgensville are now attainable for 2x face. I think that’s a pretty good deal to have a box of new rolls.

Another thing that happened last month was the Denver Mint’s additional production of the 2009 Nickel! It was all the hoopla when they announced they have stopped production the nickel and dime back in April. But as expected from my perspective, they fired up and made an additional 7.44 million while the Philadelphia mint did not produce any additional in July. Keep in mind these nickels are still a lot lower production than in years past and the distribution seems to be sparse at best.  The market for these may be slightly weakened due to the additional minting but how many NICE ones have anyone seen if you have seen one at all?  I purchased a roll and it should be here in the next day or so and I’ll share my findings. Hopefully they will be sharp and not all banged up as in years past.

June has come and gone. Now the world prepares for the release in Springfield, IL of the third 2009 Lincoln Professional life cent in August.  The US Mint produced 164.4 million Denver minted pennies while the Philiadelphia mint produced 64.4 million. I am going out on a limb here and say that those were probably the final runs of the Formative / Log Splitter cents. If this is the case then there are 364 million Formative years minted in Denver and 375.6 million Formative years minted in Philiadelphia. As expected, these numbers are much higher than the 2009 Lincoln Log Cabin series. It also seems the Formative year LP2 pennies are everywhere. One has to assume that the Log Cabin LP1 boxes are probably in a vault covered up with LP2 Formative year boxes, so it may be a while before any of those start to appear!

*Assumes 2009 Lincoln Formative years cent run completed in June.

May’s updated numbers just came out. As previously reported the US Mint minted 284.8 million Philadelphia Birthplace pennies and 350 million Denver Birthplace pennies. Through May 2009, the Mint has produced a total of 549.6 million 2009 Lincoln cents in Denver and 596 million in Philadelphia. The difference represents the mintages of the 2009 Lincoln Formative years Rail Splitter cents. Therefore, so far 311.2 million Formative years Rail Splitter pennies have been produced by the Philadelphia mint while the Denver mint has produced a mere 199.6 million in the same time period.  This is the opposite of what we saw with the Birthplace cents. There were a lot more produced in Denver than Philadelphia up until the last month of minting which the Philadelphia mint produced a large quantity to close the gap between the two mints.

2009 Lincoln Cent Mintages as of  6/1/2009:

Lincoln Birthplace – P Mint -          284.8 million  Final mintage number

Lincoln Birthplace – D Mint -          350.0 million  Final mintage number

Lincoln Formative Years Rail Splitter – P Mint -          311.2 million  through June 1, 2009

Lincoln Formative Years Rail Splitter – D Mint -          199.6 million  through June 1, 2009

Well yesterday the US Mint put this year’s 2009 Clad Proof Sets on sale for $29.95. Yes I ordered my sets at noon like most die hard collectors and got confirmation they are in stock!  The website seemed to die for a few hours shortly after I ordered my sets

Ya I ordered 50 sets...hopefully the quality is good!

The biggest addition to these sets besides the District/Territory quarters is it contains all four of the versions  of the 2009 Lincoln penny struck in bronze from the S mint!  This is the same composition that the Lincoln cent began being minted in 1909.  The silver Proof sets will contain the same pennies as the clad Proof set. The uncirculated sets, to be released later this summer, will contain the same four 2009 Lincoln cents with the same composition but they will be struck with a Satin Finish featuring the P and D mints… eight different pennies in all!

So this year there will be eight circulation strike Copper over Zinc 2009 Lincoln pennies, eight Satin Finish Bronze 2009 Lincoln pennies, and four Proof Bronze 2009 Lincoln pennies for a grand total of twenty different varieties of the bicentennial of Lincoln’s birth and the Centennial of the Lincoln cent!  Not to mention the medals and silver dollars the Mint has produced this year in honor of our 16th President.  This is almost becoming a collector’s nightmare.  Not only are these 2009 Lincoln pennies aren’t being circulated but it seems the only way someone can obtain them for their collection is through the secondary market or directly from the Mint.  Needless to say it is probably going to be a banner year for profit for the US Mint.

I sure hope the Mint doesn’t follow suit of the baseball card world and start putting “random inserted limited edition coins” in mint rolls!  If you can afford it, have fun buying these unique sets…if not wait a few years and these regular issue 2009 Lincoln’s may make it into circulation, but don’t hold your breath too long!

Well I made it down to the release on May 14th. It was a complete contrast to what they Hodgenville Lincoln Birthplace release was. Rather than having most of the 500 hundred or so people attend the actual ceremony prior to the cent exchange the majority of the 4000+ at the Lincoln City unveiling got in line for the coin exchange.

Hodgenville, KY 2009 Lincoln Birthplace Log Cabin penny release ceremony photo:

Estimated about 500 people were there...

Compared to the Lincoln Formative Years Rail Splitter penny ceremony:

Really light attendance since everyone was in line!

I got there a little later than most and ended up having to park about a mile away near the campgrounds. I was lucky enough to jump on a shuttle to the “end of the line”. I took photos of the line, keep in mind not one person was photographed more than once in these photos and they run from the tent of the distribution to where I was standing.

Tent of the Cent Distribution

Line looking back from the concession area by Ampitheater

Line going down to the parking lot from the top of the hill

Looking back up the hill at the Cent Tent from Parking lot

Bottom of Hill on sidewalk around parking lot

Parking lot line going around the bend

Coming out of the parking lot area towards the entrance road

Looking back to the end of the line...keep in mind the ceremony was still going on!

It was rumored about $10,000 worth of cents were brought to the event. Though when I asked the Brinks guys they said “We aren’t allowed to say”. Like who cares, I am sure Coin World will have the actual amount?!? I got a few photos before the Penny Exchange started in the tent and in the Brinks truck along with one with the last 36 boxes prior to being moved to the tent.

Getting ready for the 2009 Lincoln Formative Years exchange

What was left after placing the first batch on the tables seen above

The last 36 boxes prior to being moved to the Tent

Myself and the crew with me managed to get through the line twice. We were sixth in line when they ran out! Ugh, I was next in line when they ran out in Hodgenville. Oh well just my luck. But we did have a nice haul. We combined our 2009 Lincoln Formative Years Rail Splitter cents and had just under two boxes.

First box, almost full

The full box of 2009 Lincoln formative year cents

I was stuck in traffic for some time and decided to go get some food while the line at the Post Office died down so I could get these penny rolls stamped and canceled as proof that they came from the event and not from Washington DC or when they hit the banks. When I arrived back at the Lincoln Boyhood home National Park the line was still long. I waited 3 hours to get them stamped and canceled. After that I made my 1.5 hour drive home and man was I exhausted!

Yes that line represents 3 hours of my life...I was 5th from the last.

View of the Post Office Cancellation area from inside the Museum

After getting home, I started looking at the rolls a little more closely. Truthfully I have to say some of these are the most beat up looking coins I have ever seen to be BRAND NEW!. There are some that are pathetic. No wonder MS66 is about the highest grade anyone has gotten. In this batch of P’s, someone would be very lucky to get an MS66 in my opinion. It’s almost embarrassing that the US Mint let the quality control of these 3 month type coins be so shoddy. All in all it was a great experience, I guess I need to gear up for Springfield, IL since it is going to probably be more crazy.

After checking on some websites, it appears that the US Mint’s idea of making the LP2 two roll 2009 Lincoln formative years Rail Splitter sets available through their site at the same time, it has kept the secondary market prices down a lot further than the 2009 Lincoln Birthplace pennies. But even so, it may be a few years before we see any of these cents out in banks. Only time will tell.

I read where they are going to limit the rolls to a maximum of 6 rolls per time through the line. Additionally, there will be NO box sales at this event!  Does this make sense to anyone? If the demand is there go on and let people buy as much as they want and get them out of the storage areas!  All this creates is high prices for 50 cent rolls, the Mint should back two tractor trailers up the event and sell boxes to whomever wants them. I think it’s ridiculous for the Mint to not meet the demand of the public after making such a big deal about the release of these new 2009 pennies this year. Rather than hoard them in their own vaults, make them available to the public! This distribution system will continue to make the prices high and more difficult for collectors to obtain them. I guess $8.95 for a two roll Mint set of P and D won’t be so bad after all, since the Mint is obviously not about distributing the new pennies at face value!

Anyone else see the flaw in this?

I received email confirmation that my credit card has been charged and my 5 sets of the Lincoln Birthplace Log cabin roll sets have been shipped late last night. I figure they should be here before the weekend. I see where a lot of people are pre-selling these for $65 to $85 a set! I might put a set or two up for that kind of money!  So, now with those being shipped and the Mint offering subscriptions to the proof sets now, it will be interesting to see how many of copper cents they will have.  I will post photos upon receipt of my sets. Check your mailboxes and front steps!

The latest mintage numbers show that during March 2009, the Philadelphia mint produced 90 million cents while the Denver Mint produced just a mere 8 million cents.  Perhaps the small batch of Denver cents minted in March are for the US Mint D/P wrapped two roll sets available on their site? If 8 million was for these sets then 160,000 rolls are available and with the 5 set maximum…assuming that everyone ordered 5 sets means at least 32,000 people could receive them.

Adding these totals to what was produced in January and February bring the total mintages for Denver to 350.4 million and Philadelphia mint to 284.4 million.  It is unclear if these represent the last of the production of the Lincoln Birthplace cent or if it is the beginning of the Lincoln boyhood home in Indiana penny or if it’s the entire mintage for the year…stay tuned for this month’s totals.

Well I got my 2009 UHR $20 Gold piece back today from PCGS. It came back in a “First Strike” holder with a grade of MS69.  I am pleased with the results. I had thought that it would go MS69 and it did. The turn around time was quick…I mailed it on 3/10 and got it shipped back on 3/20!  I guess I will now see about purchasing another UHR $20 to keep in the original Mint packaging.  I can truly say this coin is a great example of an American Type coin and one to treasue for years to come.