Bucket of Coins

I just received confirmation that my set has been shipped. I am anxious to receive them.  Everyone seems to be selling theirs 5 ounce America The Beuatiful Silver coins on different sites but for not as much as in December and the first part of January. Appears several people are dumping at lower prices just to move them which has caused an adjustment for other sellers to modify and lower their prices. 

Me? I am not worried about prices of these silver coins. They are a low mintage silver coin set and they will always command a higher price due to their silver content and rarity. I am happy to get my set for my enjoyment. I can say I am not going to sell mine and I am a happy man to be the coin custodian for these big ole 5 oz silver bullion coins. 

Now one has to start thinking about 2011 sets, will there be as many or more produced? Will the Mint sell them from their own site next time? What will silver be trading for when they come out? Time will tell, I am sure the Mint learned something from this mess and it will be smoother over the next runs of the 5 oz America the Beautiful Silver coins sets!

January 18th has come and passed. I was able to get my order in for a set of the 5 ounce America The Beautiful Silver Quarters for 2010 issues. I understand the ones A Mark had will be encapsulated and certified as “First Strike Choice BU” by PCGS. I would preferred mine be actually given an MS grade rather than a generic “Choice BU” but I guess it will keep them safe until I have time to inspect them; after all they are “Bullion” coins. If any of them look really good I may send them back for a MS grade. As far as the price I was fine with the $875.33 but the $99 shipping seemed quite high since a flat rate box from the USPS is $11.95 up to 70 pounds.  I’ll post photos once I receive them in “6 to 8 weeks”.

I was tempted to order through another distributor of the 5 ounce America The Beautiful Silver Quarters but they were doing a mail order only. You had to send in a check via snail mail and wait. I was wondering if having nearly $1,000 tied up in something they may or may not happen was a good idea, but when I found out I could get in on the Lottery online, it was a no-brainer.  I have become an instant gratification man as I have gotten older and as technology has developed. Another thing that was kind of odd was the mail order form stated the 5 ounce America The Beautiful Silver Quarters could be scratch, finger printed, scuffed and a whole laundry list of other scary words coin collectors do not like to hear!

It appears a few other distributors are going to be offering their allotment of the 5 ounce America The Beautiful Silver Quarters next month, so I may try to get another set via some relatives and cherry pick the ones I want and let the others go to other collectors whom were not as fortunate as a certain Cable shopping channel to get 250 sets (such nonsense!).  I sincerely hope everyone who wants a set gets one, they are truly nice looking and the first edition of any series usually has the lowest mintage and retain their collectibility longer than the rest of the series. Just a little something for those of you who are hesitating on taking the plunge to chew on…Food for thought!

I spoke to a salesman representing APMEX at the Affiliate Summit West this week in Las Vegas. He said it’s more of a mess and not as clear cut as media and Mint have made it sound. He said it is really convoluted and that they wish they never got involved with it. They had planned on selling them as a bullion coin set similar to the Silver, Gold, and Platinum American Eagles. There issues is basically the secondary market is allowed to make a huge profit while the distributors are not allowed to make anything over a predetermined amount. It doesn’t really seem that fair that the distributors of the 5 ounce America the Beautiful Silver Quarters can’t charge a premium for their sets. The salesman I spoke with said they were going to charge $1150 for a set, even though on other venues they are asking over four times that amount. He also said what the US Mint has done is made a collectible rarity with a bullion item and with the silver market being so enticing right now supply doesn’t meet the demand.  Other countries have been producing 5 and 10 ounce silver coins for years! I am just hoping I can get a set, if I do I will post it here! America continues to wait…

UPDATE: Looks like AMARK is going to the 5 coin set on sale on January 18th, at 1 PM est.  I plan on doing my darnedest to get a set! Good luck to everyone who tries!

As the world awaits the availability of the 2010 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins also referred to as 5 oz America the Beautiful Silver quarter sets, to go on sale this month. One has to ask what is the fairest way to ensure the collector gets a shot at them.  I have been on all the named “distributors” websites and some have something about reviewing the “rules set by the Mint” while others have nothing about these coins. Several home shopping and auction sites are already selling the five coins for upwards of $5,000! It appears when they are officially offered to the general public, the cost will be under $900 for the five.  The biggest dilemma I see is there is no consistency of when these distributors are going to put them on sale. Today, January 3rd, was to be the anticipated release which had been communicated, now it appears some are saying it will be the middle of the month before they make them available. So unless you constantly check the distributor’s sites you may miss your opportunity to acquire one of the 33,000 sets. I’m not greedy, I just want one for my collection but I am not willing to pay $5,000 for a set of over-sized quarters even if they are made of silver.

I have seen that some people had pre-ordered and have received their sets already. To me, I think the Mint should do like they do everything else…sell them from their site and cut out the middle man! It shouldn’t take long for them to sell out and at least there would be some semblance of fairness with a set time for release.  So here I sit with the rest of America, wondering if I will be able to get a set. Wish me luck, as I do to all the other coin collectors out there!

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.