One of the most pleasantly surprising find at the National Money Show in New Orleans was at the U.S. Mint booth. On the right side of the booth, almost in the middle of the floor, was a single display case with a sign that read “Upcoming Products.” In the case was an example of the 2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set.
The U.S. Mint began its four week sale period on May 9, 2013, the first day of the National Money Show. All orders are being taken via their website or by telephone at 800-USA-MINT (800-872-6468). The two coin set with one American Eagle Silver Reverse Proof Coin and one “enhanced” American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin minted at the United States Mint at West Point. Selling price is $139.95 with shipping to begin on September 30.
This set will mark the fourth time that the American Silver Eagle will be produced in reverse proof. Prior to this year, the U.S. Mint produced the American Silver Eagle for the 2006 20th Anniversary Silver Eagle set, 2011 25th Anniversary Silver Eagle set, and the 2012 75th Anniversary of the San Francisco Mint set. As far as I am concerned, the U.S. Mint can continue to produce the reverse proof American Silver Eagle every year.
2013-W American Silver Eagle reverse proof
2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set with reverse proof and enhanced uncirculated coins.
2013-W American Silver Eagle enhanced uncirculated coin
What made the set stand out what the U.S. Mint calls the “enhanced uncirculated” coin. While it looks like a proof coin, the enhanced portion are the selective frosting of elements. Introduced earlier this year, the new laser frosting technique allows the U.S. Mint to selectively apply the frosting texture to areas of the dies in a matter that leaves fine details of the coins. For the enhanced American Silver Eagles, the selective frosting leaves the folds of Miss Liberty’s skirt mirrored and is used to show off the flag she is holding. Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty image is one of the best designs every to appear on a U.S. coin. Enhancing it in this manner just makes it pop in a way Weinman could never imagine.
Even if you are “board” with the reverse proof, the set it worth purchasing just for the enhanced uncirculated coin. You will not be disappointed.
But the coin that really caught my eye was on the right side of the case. A 2013 Reverse Proof American Buffalo 24-Karat gold coin. Previously unannounced, it did not get noticed until I posted one of the first pins on Pinterest. After, it seem that the story spread around the numismatic press.
According to the U.S. Mint representatives at the show, the gold coin that was first issued in 2006 featuring the 1913 Type 1 Buffalo Nickel, will celebrate the 100th anniversary of the design by James Earle Fraser.
2013-W American Buffalo gold reverse proof obverse
Reverse of the 2013-W American Buffalo gold reverse proof
As striking other reverse proof coins have been, the American Buffalo gold coin is just as striking. It could be called just plain beautiful. Aside from being my second favorite coin design behind Weinman’s Walking Liberty, it makes a big impression as a reverse proof coin.
Since the coin has not been issued, the price has not been set. Since the price is based on the market price of gold, and considering that gold closed today (May 16) at $1,395.05 per troy ounce, and using the United States Mint 2013 Pricing of Numismatic and Commemorative Gold and Platinum Products [PDF] for the regular American Buffalo gold proof coin, the coin would cost $1,740. If the price of gold continues to go down, of course the sales price will go down.
Both coins bring the U.S. Mint back into the forefront of numismatic art. These coins use the best coin designs and brings them to a new level while keeping with their classic elegance without the gimmickry of color, embedded stones, odd shapes, or any combination of extras to sell non-circulating legal tender coins at an inflated price. It would be wonderful if the U.S. Mint could use these processes to enhance future designs. Both coins should be in the running for Coin of the Year honors when they are selected next year (and awarded in 2015).
It seems that the biggest trend in modern collectibles are colored non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) coins. You have seen these coins from various countries including Canada, Somalia, New Zealand, and Australia to name a few.
Not all colored coins are made of precious metals. My set of Somalia Motorcycle and Classic Sports Cars coins are silver-plated copper-nickel coins. In fact, most of the Somalia-shaped coins are not made from precious metals. But the shaped coins are so cool that they find buyers around the world, including with me.
In addition to making commercial collectibles, coins have had art imprinted on them, enhanced designs, and even commemorate something based on the country of issue.
So what do you think? Should congress give the U.S. Mint permission to produce colored coins? Rather than pay for a third-party colored coins, what if the U.S. Mint produced a colorized American Silver Eagle coin? Or maybe a bi-metalic coin where the coin is silver and Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty design is struck in gold on specially made planchets?
Vote in the current poll and let me know what you think below.
Should the U.S. Mint be allowed to make colored coins?
No, the coins are just fine the way they are. (41%, 11 Votes)
No, but maybe they can do something cool with different metals. (30%, 8 Votes)
Yes, colored coins are cool. (15%, 4 Votes)
Yes, and while we are at it, how about special shapes. (15%, 4 Votes)
Over the last few weeks there have been a public drumbeat for the U.S. Mint to strike a $1 Trillion platinum bullion coin to resolve part of the country’s debt issues. Regardless of the story saying that this should be done, the concept is that the coin would be deposited in the Federal Reserve and it would instantly generate $1 Trillion in profit (seigniorage) that would then be deposited in the Treasury general fund.
Regardless of the side of the political spectrum you are in this topic, it will not work.
The United States Code (U.S.C.) is the codification of the laws of the United States. It is divided into 51 titles each covering one general topic. References to the law are made by providing the title number, followed by “U.S.C.,” then the section of the law. Subsections are added using parentheses after the section. All of the laws governing the U.S. Mint are under Title 31. When talking about what coins the U.S. Mint may be allowed to strike, you would find those laws in Title 31 Section 5112 (31 U.S.C. §5112).
First question is whether it is legal for the U.S. Mint to strike the $1 Trillion coin. Although there are as many answers as there are pundits, everyone points Title 31, Section 5112, paragraph “k” (31 U.S.C. § 5112(k)) that reads as follows:
The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.
This law was passed by congress under their authority in Article 1, Section 8 of the U.S. Constitution that says “The Congress shall have Power… To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof, ….” The law’s intent was to give the U.S. Mint the authority to issue the American Eagle Platinum Bullion and Platinum Proof coins. American Eagle Platinum coins have a $100 face value and sell for a premium over the market price of platinum and taking into consideration coin’s production cost. However, the law does not restrict the issuance of the platinum coin to the American Eagle program.
But is it constitutional? The argument from John Carney of CNBC says it is not by twisting a ruling by the Supreme Court. Carney cites the case Whitman v. American Trucking Assns., Inc. (531 U.S. 457 (2001)) in saying that “the Environmental Protection Agency rule making authority was too broad because Congress had failed to provide ‘intelligible principle’ to guide the agency.” Unfortunately, like a lot of people, Carney reads the headlines and not the majority opinion. In the majority opinion, Justice Antonin Scalia wrote the law “does not permit the Administrator [of the EPA] to consider implementation costs” which is against previous precedent because the Clean Air Act, which was under question, “often expressly grants the EPA the authority to consider implementation costs, a provision for costs will not be inferred from its ambiguous provision.”
In other words, the Supreme Court said that because there are conflicts in the law. The “intelligible principle” is that Congress cannot delegate partial authority over one part of a law where other parts have a requirement to consider other circumstances. In other words, the Supreme Court is saying that Congress has to be consistent in delegating its authority.
Could 31 U.S.C. § 5112(k) be interpreted in the same manner? It is possible for the Supreme Court to declare the law unconstitutional, but if they do so they would also have to rule that the law that allowed the U.S. Mint to create the 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Coin unconstitutional. According to 31 U.S.C. § 5112(i)(4)(C):
… at the same time the Secretary in minting and issuing other bullion and proof gold coins under this subsection in accordance with such program procedures and coin specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.
Under both 31 U.S.C. § 5112(k) and 31 U.S.C. § 5112(i)(4)(C), the Secretary can authorize the U.S. Mint to strike any denomination platinum or gold coin with the value of $1 Trillion. Since there is no ambiguity or contradictions that would be able to use Whitman v. American Trucking Assns. as a precedence, the constitutionality should not be in question.
If the Secretary could mint and issue a $1 Trillion coin, then the Secretary could mint 17 such coins that could theoretically be used to pay off the country’s debt and give the country a positive balance for the first (and only) time since 1835 under President Andrew Jackson.
For discussion sake, let us say that the Secretary authorized the U.S. Mint to produce a $1 Trillion coin. Who is going to buy the coin?
If the concept is to use the profit (seigniorage) from the sale of the coin, whether it is made of gold or platinum, the coin has to be sold in order for there to be a profit. If the government would just deposit a $1 Trillion coin in the Federal Reserve, then where is the profit for the government? In order for a coin to become legal tender, it has to be bought from the government for at least its face value unless the law allows otherwise (see the American Eagle Bullion program and any of the commemorative programs). The U.S. Mint does not consider a coin to be legal tender until it receives an appropriate deposit of bullion or other forms of legal tender.
It this concept of legal tender that has been behind the government’s position that because the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagle coin was not paid for by a depositor (part of which is required in 31 U.S.C. § 5122), they are government owned coins (31 U.S.C. § 5121) and not legal tender. This concept has been upheld in the history of the 1933 Saint-Gaudens Double Eagles including the settlement over the Fenton-Farouk coin that sold for $7,590,020 with $20 going to “monetize” the coin.
Most recently, Judge Legrome D. Davis (U.S. District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania) confirmed the legal tender status of the 10 Double Eagles that Joan Langbord allegedly found in a box once owned by her father, infamous Philadelphia jeweler Israel Switt who is considered one of the central figures in the coins removal from the U.S. Mint. In Lanbord et al v. U.S. Treasury (Civil Action No. 06-5315), Judge Davis’s opinion cites past cases including the government’s own case against Israel Switt in 1934 for not forfeiting recalled gold and the previous return of 75 coins attributed to him. His opinion effectively confirms the U.S. Mint’s argument that once it creates a coin it is not legal tender and a liability on their balance sheet until the coins is bought.
If the coin is has to be paid for by a depositor before it can become legal tender, who will buy a $1 Trillion coin?
If the coin is just deposited with the Federal Reserve, there will be a $1 Trillion liability on the government’s balance sheet. In order to make the books balance, the Department of Treasury would have to sell debt bonds to make up the difference and that would add $1 Trillion to the national debt.
If the coin is bought by the Federal Reserve, then the Fed will have to pay $1 Trillion to the U.S. Mint for the coin reducing its overall working capital by $1 Trillion. Paying for a $1 Trillion that could not be used will just transfer the debt from the general treasury to the Federal Reserve. Since the Federal Reserve is in charge of managing the country’s money supply, the net effect will be to reduce the money supply by $1 Trillion that will cause the economy to shrink—any time you artificially remove money from the economy it will shrink which will also weaken the buying power of the U.S. dollar.
Transferring the debt away from the general fund might look good on paper but the effect will shrink the economy and cause more problems than even considering the constitutionality of doing this.
Last week, the U.S. Mint published their product schedule for the rest of the month and the first quarter of 2013. So for this week’s poll, which 2013 coin are you most interested in?
American Silver Eagle Proof
While I could have allowed more than one answer, I decided to limit you to just one of the programs that change plus the American Eagle coins. For me, I will always buy at least one example of the silver bullion, uncirculated, and proof coins each year to keep my nearly complete collection going—missing only the 1995-W proof.
For the changing programs, the 2013 Presidential $1 Coins will honor the presidencies of William McKinley (the 25th President), Theodore Roosevelt (26th, whose “Pet Crime” gave us better coin designs), William Howard Taft (27th, the only president to become Chief Justice of the Supreme Court), and Woodrow Wilson (28th president). Although there are interesting stories about earlier presidents, “modern” United States history is usually taught beginning either McKinley or Roosevelt—which is unfortunate because many people could learn a lot from post-reconstruction politics.
2013 Native American Dollar Reverse Design
One of the most under-appreciated designs have been those for the Native American $1 Coin. Using the obverse of the original Sacagawea Dollar, the reverse has been changing since 2009 to honor the history and other contributions made by native Americans. Aside from honoring their important contributions, the designs have been wonderful. In 2013, the reverse design commemorates the Delaware Treaty of 1778. The design features a turkey, howling wolf, and a turtle as the symbols of the clans of the Delaware Tribes, and 13 stars to represent the colonies. Not only are these great designs but they make wonderful education pieces that should gain more attention when congress does the right thing and eliminates the paper dollar note.
2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar
The 2013 Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar honors the organization’s founding by Juliette Gordon Low in Savannah, Georgia on March 12, 1912. Low founded the Girl Scouts a year after meeting Sir Robert Baden-Power, founder of the Boy Scouts and Girl Guides in England. When Low returned to Savannah, she put the concept in motion. According to the Girl Scouts’ website, “On March 12, 1912, Juliette Low gathered 18 girls to register the first troop of American Girl Guides. Margaret ‘Daisy Doots’ Gordon, her niece and namesake, was the first registered member. The name of the organization was changed to Girl Scouts the following year.” Surcharges from the sales of this coin will be paid to the Girl Scouts for program development and delivery.
Which 2013 coins are you interested in purchasing?
Which 2013 coins are you most interested in?
Any of the American Eagle Coins (30%, 11 Votes)
Native American Dollar (22%, 8 Votes)
5-Star General Commemorative (19%, 7 Votes)
Girl Scouts of the USA Centennial Silver Dollar (14%, 5 Votes)
I am not interested in any of these coins (14%, 5 Votes)
First, the U.S. Mint’s product offerings do not make sense, specifically in the area of coins minted at the San Francisco Mint. First, in an attempt to resolve the issues surrounding the release of the 25th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set, the U.S. Mint changes their approach by making the ordering period for the 75th Anniversary of the San Francisco Mint Silver Eagle Set a month long and announcing they will mint enough coins to the demand.
Of course some people believed that would be the extent of the run of Silver Eagles with the “S” mintmark. However, many missed the fine print that said the U.S. Mint may continue to strike and sell S mint Silver Eagles following the sale—which they did. Buried in the news was the announcement of the Making American History Coin and Currency Set, a combined set to celebrate the U.S. Mint’s 220th anniversary and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing’s 150th anniversary. The set contains an S Mint Silver Eagle and a $5 Federal Reserve Note from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco with the serial number beginning with “150.”
Even though that set has limits (100,000 based on the number of $5 FRN available), there have been some complaints from the buying public about not putting limits on the number of S Mint American Silver Eagle products.
But does this matter? Is this a case of collectors trying to dabble with investment in their collection? I know we all would like our collection to be worth more than what we paid, but are we collectors or investors? As a collector, I am not concerned that my 1928 Peace Dollar is not worth that much more than I paid for it.
Legally (31 U.S.C §5112(e)), the U.S. Mint is required to supply the bullion market with American Eagle coins to demand. Striking of coins for the collector market is up to “the Secretary’s discretion,” which we saw with the American Eagle Proof non-production fiasco of 2009.
The American Eagle bullion coins are the most popular investments coins in the world with Canada’s Maple Leaf coming in a close second because of currency exchange rates. Even as the Canadian dollar passes the U.S. dollar in value, American Eagles are still selling. The demand for the product is there and by law, the U.S. Mint is required to supply the demand. There is even demand for the collector versions of the American Eagles, as we saw in 2009. The U.S. Mint does not have to limit sales, and why should they? After all, the U.S. Mint is one of the few profit making mechanisms for the federal government—and even with the price controls placed on them by the law, why should they not be allowed to take advantage of the market? If a complaint about the government is that they do not act like a business, and it is a business decision to sell more American Eagle collector products to satisfy market demand, then why are they being criticized?
The Royal Canadian Mint produces the popular Maple Leaf bullion coins as well as other issues based on the Maple Leaf and other precious metal coins. They can do this because the RCM is not a government agency. The RCM is what is known as a “Crown Corporation,” legally owned by the Crown of the Commonwealth Realm (Queen Elizabeth II) with exclusive rights to produce coins on behalf of the Bank of Canada. Issues and designs are decided by a committee within the RCM which is then approved by the Bank of Canada so that they have legal tender status before being approved by the Governor General of Canada, the Queen’s representative in Canada.
Since the RCM can issue many different non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) coins without the onerous permission requirements that the U.S. Mint needs to go through by getting a law passed, the RCM can create many limited availability issues and use the limited availability as part of their promotion. In the mean time, the U.S. Mint has a limited number of coins they can produce because this is what congress has allowed them to do.
Golino writes, “We need more coins with different and better designs.” This one is difficult to answer because of how the U.S. Mint is regulated by congress. Even if you try to extend the American Silver Eagle coins with different design, the law (31 U.S.C §5112(e)) says the design must be “symbolic of Liberty on the obverse side” and “of an eagle on the reverse side.” Maybe the U.S. Mint could use the American Silver Eagle coins to reprise old designs like the Christian Gobrecht’s Seated Liberty design with the reverse eagle designed by Titian Peale from the Gobrecht Dollar, but to create something else requires an act of congress.
Even if the U.S. Mint was allowed to alter the designs of the American Eagle coins, these designs have to be vetted by the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts and the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee. While a vetting process should continue, the redundant process of having to run the designs by both the CFA and CCAC is a business risk that the U.S. Mint will probably choose not to go through.
There is no incentive for the U.S. Mint to request a change in its current operating structure because it would require cooperation from congress where the current oversight subcommittee chair, Ron Paul, is not considered a friend to the the agency.
As a first step, it would be nice for the U.S. Mint to be able to leverage the American Eagle program to create a changing design for collectibles. One would be to revive some of the older one-dollar designs as a tribute to the large silver coins. Another would be to do the same for gold coins, such as a year where the Bela Lyon Pratt incuse half-eagle Indian Head design would be featured. But this would require a change in the law since the obverse design is not a representative of liberty.
If you want something different, write to your member of congress and suggest that the law be changed. Otherwise, if you do not like the offering, do not buy it. Nothing speaks louder than consumers exercising their rights not to buy a product.
Although my collection consists mostly of coins, I have been branching out into some areas of currency. Other than collecting Israeli currency, I am not sure what direction I want to go. Since 2007, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing has issued a yearly $2 Single Note Collection where each folder has a $2 note from each of the Federal Reserve branches and the serial number begins with the year, allowing for only 10,000 collectibles per Fed branch (YYYY0000-YYYY9999). This year, the Single Note is just being issued for the Federal Reserve Band of Kansas City. This is not good for someone who has only purchased the notes from the New York Fed.
This year represents the sesquicentennial of the Bureau of Engraving and Printing. Formed as a result of the National Currency Act, the Department of the Treasury opened the National Currency Bureau in a basement office of the Treasury Building on August 29, 1862 to cut and manage the fractional currency that was being printed for the government. With the passage of the National Bank Act of 1863 centralizing currency production with the federal government, the office became its own bureau with a mission to print currency and other security documents. The name was changed a few times before it was settled on the Bureau of Engraving and Printing.
The U.S. Mint and the BEP have combined to sell the Making American History Coin and Currency Set to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the BEP and 220th Anniversary of the U.S. Mint. The set will contain a 2012-S American Silver Eagle Proof coin and a Series 2009 $5 note from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco with a “unique serial number” that begins with “150.”
Sales of the set will be handled by the U.S. Mint and scheduled to begin on August 7, 2012, at 12:00 Noon. Sets will cost $72.95 with no purchase or production limits announced. Considering that the serial number is eight digits long, the de facto limit will probably be 100,000 sets.
Limited edition, three-note set features Series 1995, 2001 and 2009 $10 notes, with matching low serial numbers, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia.
Just announced on July 30, 2012, a new product is the “$10 Generations Set.” This will be a three-note set with Series 1995, 2001 and 2009 $10 notes, with matching low serial numbers, from the Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia. The three notes represent the three designs of the small size $10 Federal Reserve Note.
BEP began printing the small-sized notes starting in 1928 with the Series 1929 notes. Since then, the basic designs had note changed until the re-design effort that began in 1996. The $1 Federal Reserve Note continues to use the design similar to that first circulated in 1929.
The set will be in a leatherette binder with the notes stored in acid-free polymer sleeve. Included in the set will be a commemorative print of Independence Hall with the Liberty Bell and “We the People” on the reverse. It will also include a booklet about the history of the $10 note since 1861.
Sales will begin on August 7, 2012. There will be a limit of 3,333 set priced at $149.95, $135 for purchasing ten or more with a 25 set purchase limit the first week.
Since August 7 is the first day of the World’s Fair of Money in Philadelphia, I wonder if the U.S. Mint and the Bureau of Engraving and Printing will have sets there for sale?
This week, the U.S. Mint branch in San Francisco opened its doors for the press in honor of the facility’s 75th Anniversary. Reporters were given a tour of the production lines and spoke with employees of the U.S. Mint about upcoming collectibles.
Here is the story that appeared on KTVU, Channel 2 in San Francisco (commercial embedded by KTVU):
The U.S. Mint has clearly increased production to meet a potential demand for the American Silver Eagle Proof set with both regular proof and reverse proof coins for the upcoming sale. In the video we see a lot of silver planchettes and a few racks of beautiful silver coins. A pair are shown to the camera including the reverse of the reverse proof.
We also learned that the San Francisco Mint is striking circulation quality (business strikes) National Parks Quarters that will be distributed in special collectibles. These coins will not be added into circulation.
San Francisco Mint Plant Manager Larry Eckerman made an unfortunate mistake when he said that there has not been any S mintmark coins in circulation since the early 1950s. Collectors of Lincoln Cents can tell you that S mintmark cents were issued starting in 1968 through 1974.
The 2012 American Eagle San Francisco Two-Coin Silver Proof Set goes on sale starting June 7, 2012. Coins will be minted to demand based on sales through the end date of July 5, 2012. Price will be determined prior to sale and based on the cost of silver. Here’s to hoping that silver prices drop between now and June 7!
The San Francisco Branch of the U.S. Mint first opened in 1857 to serve the coinage needs caused by the California Gold Rush. With the population growth in California and the demand for coins the Mint out grew the building and built a new Mint that was opened in 1874.
The new building was built beyond specification to be secure based on the known risks of the times. One worry about the new building was preventing the ability for someone to break into the building by tunneling into the basement. To prevent this, the foundation and basement were made with granite. Although the above ground structure was built using sandstone, the building earned the title “Granite Lady” following the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake when it survived with only a few exterior cracks.
The Granite Lady was the only building in its area to survive the destructive force of the quake. After the earthquake, the Mint Superintendent Frank Leach and his staff used the building and the grounds to assist with the rescue and housing effort after the earthquake. A tent city was built around the Mint and stayed until there were places for them to move.
Production continued with coins bearing the familiar “S” mintmark. Amongst the coins struck at The Granite Lady is the famous 1909-S VDB Lincoln Cent. The year after producing only 309,000 1908-S Indian Head Cents, the San Francisco Mint geared up to increase the production of the newly introduced Lincoln Cent. As the new coins landed in circulation, there was an outcry over the large “V.D.B” initials on the reverse for designer Victor David Brenner, the Mint stopped production of the coins. The Mint in San Francisco stopped after production of 484,000 of these cents, making it one of the most desired collectibles and a key date in the Lincoln Cent series.
As what happened after the San Francisco Branch Mint opened, they began to outgrow The Granite Lady. At the same time that congress authorized $524,000 to build the Bullion Repository at Fort Knox in 1935, they authorized $1.225 million to build the new San Francisco Mint.
The state of the art facility was built as a fortress with two-foot reinforced concrete walls to protect the vaults, a pistol range on the fifth floor, and tear gas pipes throughout the building for security. Also included in the construction was a generator to operate the electricity in case the power was cut to the building. When it opened, there was a plumbing shop, carpentry shop, and a blacksmith shop to support operations.
San Francisco’s new Mint opened in 1937 and became fully operational by 1938. It continued to strike circulating coins until 1955. In 1962, San Francisco was “downgraded” to an assay office. As an assay office, it struck circulating coinage starting in 1968 and ending in 1974. The San Francisco facility continued to strike proof coinage and added striking circulating Susan B. Anthony Dollars from 1979 through 1981.
Since 1981, the San Francisco Mint has struck Lincoln Cents for circulation to supplement the output of the Philadelphia Mint. It is not known how many cents San Francisco produced since their coins contained no mint mark and their inventory was included in the general reporting by the U.S. Mint without distinguishing between the facilities.
The San Francisco Assay Office was officially granted mint status again on March 31, 1988 as part of Public Law No. 100-274. That law also granted mint status to Silver Bullion Depository at West Point.
To celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the “new” San Francisco Mint, the U.S. Mint will sell a two-coin American Silver Eagle Proof set struck at the San Francisco Mint featuring the “S” mintmark. The set will include one regular proof and one reverse proof coin in a special presentation case.
In an attempt to avoid the problems of the past, the U.S. Mint will take pre-orders for the set and strike as many as collectors purchase. The U.S. Mint is likely to limit the number of sets sold during the pre-sale period, but there will be no limits on the number of sets produced.
The San Francisco Mint will begin to strike American Silver Eagle Proof coins on May 11 and will host a public ceremony on May 15. This set be on sale only during the period of June 7, 2012, to July 5, 2012 with mintage limits is being reported as “to demand.” Price has yet to be announced.
The American Silver Eagle Reverse Proof has to be one of the best looking coins produced by the U.S. Mint in the last 50 years. Aside from using the Adolf A. Weinman Walking Liberty design, which is one of my favorites, the shiny relief over the matte field really makes the design pop.
With the current American Silver Eagle Proof coin selling for $59.95, it is possible that the San Francisco set would be priced around $120. However, I think the set price may be set to $99.95 to increase sales and show some good will to collectors, especially those that were shutout of purchasing the 25th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set.
As an aside, the 100,000 unit 25th Anniversary set sold for $299.95. Recent price guides show that the set is selling is worth $825. Since the U.S. Mint plans to strike “to demand,” it is unlikely the San Francisco Anniversary set will see that kind of increase on the secondary market.
Image of the San Francisco Mint after the 1906 Earthquake courtesy of the Library of Congress. Image of the new San Francisco Mint courtesy of Wikipedia. Image of the San Francisco 75th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set courtesy of the U.S. Mint.
You might have read that the U.S. Mint surveyed purchasers of their 25th Anniversary American Silver Eagle sets to ask whether they would buy different options of the coins. Amongst the options surveyed include coins minted in Denver, reverse proofs, and a high relief coin.
Mint Director of public affairs Tom Jurkowsky was quoted by Numismatic New as saying, “Just because a question is presented doesn’t mean that a product would be offered.”
I was one of those asked by the U.S. Mint to participate in the survey. As I was answering the question I was excited because the American Silver Eagle is my favorite modern coin. Aside of being 40mm with one troy ounce of beautiful silver, Adolph A. Weinman’s Walking Liberty design is one of the best designs to be featured on a United States coin. With the John Mercanti designed heraldic eagle on the reverse, the coin screams of being an American coin.
Later in the day, I received a product notice from the Royal Canadian Mint for yet another non-circulating legal tender (NCLT) collectible. That is when I realized that the Royal Canadian Mint produces a lot of NCLT coins including ones that celebrate Canada with the use of the maple leaf. Don’t get me wrong, I love Canada. I collect Canadian circulated coins and I am a member of the Royal Canadian Numismatic Society. But the Royal Canadian Mint just produces too many products.
While I sometimes look at some of the RCM’s products and think that the U.S. Mint could produce coins of the same themes if congress would release their shackles, I also know that the overload of products from the RCM appears to cheapen their product offerings.
Additional American Silver Eagles would be nice, but I question whether adding additional options would push the U.S. Mint into overload? Even though the reverse proof American Silver Eagle is a beautiful coin, does it really have to be produced every year? What is wrong with producing the coin for special anniversary sets?
After seeing the reverse proof and the U.S. Mint’s previous high relief coin, I think they would produce a phenomenal coin. But why waste the design on an ordinary release. Why not wait until 2016 and produce a high relief American Silver Eagle to commemorate the 100 year anniversary of the first release of the design on the Walking Liberty Half Dollar? That would make the high relief coin special. In fact, since it is beyond the 25th year of the design, why not produce the reverse of the 2016 high relief American Silver Eagle using the same reverse as the Walking Liberty Half Dollar?
I hope the excitement over the survey calms down and that cooler heads will prevail.
After going on sale at noon, the U.S. Mint changed the catalog page for the 2011 American Eagle 25th Anniversary Silver Coin Set to say the sets have been SOLD OUT at 6:00 PM.
Those of us who were able to order sets found that the U.S. Mint early was faced with slow response time at the website and busy signals on the phone. In fact, the phone system was the most frustrating. After calling 1-800-USA-MINT, the interactive voice response (IVR) system answered and presented the options. After pressing “1” to order products, we were told “Your call may be monitored for quality assurance purposes.” Sometimes, it was followed by a message saying that I was selected to participate in a survey after the call. But I never got to the survey when the call reverted to a busy signal.
The website was no better. Many times it did not respond. When it did, users could only get back to the front page. After being able to select the sets and change the quantity, trying to check out became an act of futility. For the first hour, if you could get back to the online shopping cart, requests to checkout was not responded to by the U.S. Mint servers.
Fifty minutes into this adventure, my call sailed past the intro to actually place me on hold. A few moments later, a pleasant woman answered the phone and helped me place my order for five sets, the household limit.
Once the order was completed, I turned back to the computer and continued trying to place an order anyway. After trying for 90 minutes, I gave up and decided to have lunch.
U.S. Mint ordering limits prevented a quicker sellout. Two friends were able to order sets by phone at 3:00 PM. They called from work and each placed their order with the same representative.
Although I do my work for a different government agency, we always attempt to architect the systems, including the VRS, for the worst case scenario. Although predicting the maximum load and how to build systems is more of an art than a science, there are tools that helps the performance engineers’ job easier. The U.S. Mint should consider finding system engineers who come with performance engineering support to fix their systems.
Now that I have that off my chest, I am looking forward to seeing this set, especially the reverse proof. The reverse proof was the highlight of the 20th Anniversary set and should be the highlight of the 25th Anniversary Set.
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