This morning the US Mint has suspended sales of all remaining numismatic gold coin offerings. The move comes as the market price of gold has jump another $35 to nearly $1,890 per ounce. Prior to the suspension, products were priced based on an average gold price in the $1,750 to $1,799.99 range.
The US Mint’s pricing policy covering most numismatic gold coins allows for price changes to take place as frequently as weekly based on the average market price of gold based on the London Fix prices from the previous Thursday AM to the current Wednesday AM.
Pricing changes have generally taken place mid-morning Wednesday when all of the data points were available. The US Mint has reserved the right to suspend sales early “in the event that the selling price of United States Mint gold bullion products begin approaching the sale price of the gold numismatic products.” They invoked this option for the first time two weeks ago, and apparently for the second time today.
This year, pricing increases will have taken place on ten separate occasions on February 16, March 2, April 13, April 27, May 25, July 20, July 27, August 10, August 17, and likely later this week on August 25. Only one price decrease has taken place on May 18.
Commemorative gold coins, which are not covered by the numismatic gold coin pricing policy had their sales suspended on August 12. The US Mint plans to introduce a pricing grid for these products. The suspension still remains in place while the grid is being developed and implemented.
Late last week, the US Mint also suspended sales of the 2010 Silver Proof Set and 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set, pending repricing.
Noticed this about an hour ago, figured this was about to happen. I’m tapped out now anyway, looking for the 25th SAE set only. I wonder if some gold products are now gone for good, for the rest of the year.
Lucy Hayes is going to be very pricey when she comes out next week.
Tim, I cannot see the Mint eliminating any gold products, but I could be wrong.
Brian, I agree with you, Lucy is going to be a very expensive lady. Remember the prices for the original FS, I long for those days…
I think that Julia in Unc is likely to have her low mintage status challenged, especially with gold prices setting new historical highs almost daily now….
Not that I’m a first spouse collector; but I feel for those who spend money to try to guess which one will be the lowest mintage. I wonder how many people paid huge premiums for Julia Tyler when in reality she can now easily become not one of the lowest one minted. I did buy four first issued spouses back a couple years ago when they were going near spot.
I’d be shocked if some of the gold products are gone. Well maybe not shocked, but very surprised.
The gold eagles, buffaloes, and first spouse products will return Wednesday, I am sure. The problem is the gold commemoratives. I hope people got their army/medal of honor gold coins when they could, because I think those will not be put up for sale again this year unless gold suffers a massive price collapse like silver did. If we keep having gold go up $100+ a month or more, unless the Mint is able to revise its pricing policies for commemoratives, the gold coins will be unlikely to return.
I’m sure I don’t need to mention the 2011 AtB silver quarters. People should also take a hard look at the Medal of Honor and Army silver coins as well, because once the 2011 quarters go offline, those are the next most likely targets for repricing.
People should probably pick up the platinum eagle while they still can, as that is likely to face price increases soon – platinum has risen hand-in-hand with gold in the past three days and appears to have become a third option for the “flight to safety” people, whereas palladium has mostly been trading down with the stock market. There is also major pressure on platinum due to strike threats in South Africa. Zimbabwe is also pressing foreign miners (including platinum miners) to sell their holdings in that country as well. The outlook for platinum seems extremely bullish right now. I am relieved I sold some of my silver to pick up that 2011 proof platinum eagle earlier in the year. I have become a big platinum bull.
I was thinking about adding some more 2011 ATB silver quarter sets. Currently they go for $41.95 and the melt value is $39.33. With shipping, it’s still a wee bit more of a spread than I want to pay. I remember cleaning up on the 2009 sets when they contained 6 quarters. I went into to some form of hypo-manic phase and cleared out eBay for below melt from unsuspecting sellers! In fact I scavenged eBay for any silver quarter set below melt until I came back to my senses when I was left with no room for them. I would search out sets below or at melt, plus free shipping. Also you gey the eBay Bucks to boot which slightly lowered the cost. I’m saving my money for the ASE set coming out at the end of September.
From a business management perspective, the Mint is in a very tough spot. Certainly, they have to try and sell their existing inventories at the published prices. But, given the current, high spot pricing for gold and the overall volatility of the gold market, as well as the conditions of the world economies, I can not see the Mint striking a whole lot of additional inventory for any of the gold or platinum Numismatic issues. Most will not sell, and the Mint will only spend more money destroying the excess inventory.
With four months left in 2011, start looking for a lot of back order status messages that turn into sold out messages.
Julie Ann, I believe it was the US Army Corp of Engineers who found a trillion dollar deposit of Rare Earth Minerals in Afghanistan last year. Currently China is the leader with some deposits in North America. For me, these minerals are the future. They are used in everything and better to have our hands on them instead of the Chinese. In fact, I feel so strongly about their ability to make investors money, I have speculated a bit in a Rare Earth Mineral ETF given the huge sell off in the stock market. It’s a good way to play the sector instead of individual stocks.
Sorry for the rant, back to coins…I’m just a Rare Earth Mineral believer.
Why can’t the mint join the 21st century & have a website that has floating prices based on the precious metals spot prices? It seems they are losing millions of dollars in sales by continually shutting the website down. Oh I forgot – it is part of the US Government. They can’t seem to get anything right these days.
SRF49, I believe some of the problem lies in legal requirements as established by the US Congress. I am not sure how much of the pricing policies are the Mint and how much of the pricing policies are Congress, but much of what they do is mandated from above. A good article written on CoinUpdate by Louis Golino some months ago taught me to wait for information on the legal issues before rushing to judgement of the Mint. They take a lot of flack that should be directed at the US Congress.
This might be a good topic for a future post given the increased attention given to pricing policy these days (or if the legalities were addressed in some earlier post, a link would be most useful).
I’d grab th ’11 silver annual products while you can. May turn out to be the lowest mintages too.
While we’re off topic, I’m wondering if the AtB P Mt. Hood might have it’s one per household limit removed. The ordering limit was removed for the Grand Canyon version on August 9. Two weeks later, GC still seems to be available, although, it shows as “Backordered” when placed in the shopping cart.
Anyone have any thoughts on when or if the Mt. Hood will join GC in having no ordering limit? As the spot price of silver increases, the premium over spot decreases so, in a sense, these become cheaper as silver spot goes up.
Any thoughts, folks? Thanks
LL
Aurum seems to have cleared 1.9k!
now mint have to increase the gold prices by two brackets more. and might have to add one more bracket to it. if the gold pass, stay and made an average at over $1,900.00 an ounce. wow.
How long do we have until gold $2000? 1-2 weeks? I have to think the CME Group/COMEX is going to try a series of margin hikes soon, like how they took down silver a couple months ago. But I wonder whether they’ll have a big effect this time. This is not a speculation trade, this is based on fear and flight to safety this time.
Sun Tzu,
How did you come up with the calculation?
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“SunTzu says:
August 22, 2011 at 2:40 pm
I was thinking about adding some more 2011 ATB silver quarter sets. Currently they go for $41.95 and the melt value is $39.33.”
I ordered some 2011 American Eagle Silver Proofs. I noticed there wasn’t a shipping date. Any comment why? My order was not rejected.
OK – I see in the fine print shipping will be in one to two weeks – it was just that the actual date was not posted as usual.
@ samuel
0.9042 troy ounce for the 5 silver quarters timex that by the spot $43.83 equals $39.63 melt value so when the silver spot goes around $47 you’ll break even and beside the $41.95 price of the 5 quarter set is cheaper then buying ASE silver bullion if you just want to add silver in your porfolio/collection
type meant times
Samual,
The ATB quarters set has 5 quarters with a total weight of silver = .9042 oz , or .18084 oz per qtr.
$44/oz x .9042 = $39.78…so, yes, the set is getting close to being suspended for repricing.
The complete 2011 silver proof set contains 1.33823 oz of silver.
$44/oz x 1.33823 = $58.88…plus you get the 4 coin Presidential set which if purchased by its self is $19.95, so this set will be suspended soon for repricing as well.
I kinda tempted to buy more silver, wanted to buy gold but too expensive and I don’t wanna lose my hard earn cash if gold takes a dive arrgg kinda disappointed at my self not buying when it was $1600 spot. oh well we can’t get everything.
The 2010 silver quarter set would be a good buy @ $39.95 but its suspended right now
Samuel, at the time I wrote my post I used the website http://www.coinflation.com/coins/silver_coin_calculator.html
As a quick way to calculate the silver value of the silver quarters sets and silver proof sets (and the 2009 sets with the 6 Territories/DC quarters), think of it this way:
5-coin silver quarter set — about 90% of an ounce of silver (0.904 oz.)
5-coin silver quarters + half, dime set — about 1-1/3 ounces of silver (1.338 oz.)
2009 6-coin silver quarter set — about an ounce (1.0848 0z.)
2009 6-coin silver quarters + half, dime set — about 1-1/2 ounces of silver (1.5188 oz.)
Remember that the proof sets also include the assorted cent(s), nickel(s), and dollar coins, which add to the numismatic/face value of the sets.
I was told by a relative who live in Asia that he was put on a waiting list to take physical delivery of gold. Apparently there is a shortage of physical bullion. Gold is bought and sold in the banks there. I was wondering if any of you know if it is legal to bring gold bullion overseas (from the US). Thanks.
If bernanke does not announce a QE3 type statement I think gold will take a hit. However if he does gold logically will go higher. I might sell a little gold on Wednesday and lock some of these amazing gains.
To Tony H,
Every country has its own customs laws. For instance when traveling to the U.S. you must declare all monetary instruments over $10K. Under this definition I believe that a 1 oz Gold Eagle would be considered $50 but I’m not a lawyer. I have read on the net about some laws on importing / exporting bullion so check the county that you are traveling to first before bringing in bullion. I would probably recommend legal tender coins (Eagles, Maple Leaf, EU coins, etc) over private issue bars (the extra premium might be worth the peace of mind). Once again, I’m not a lawyer so get the proper legal advice on the country that you are traveling to, if coming to the U.S. that info should be easy to find. I’m sure somebody on this blog is up- to-date info on U.S. customs.
I think it is important to remember that this year’s (2011) Commemorative gold coins were priced with a surcharge built-in. I believe it was $35.00. With gold at $1,900.00, the bullion value of these pieces is about $460.00. If you add the surcharge, when these coins return to sales, they will probably be priced in the $600.00+ range and then fluctuate with the gold adjustment. What makes these pieces interesting is, they are COINS, not Bullion, and the final sales figures will have more of an impact on their future value than the price of gold. I believe the Mint will place these coins back on the market because the surcharge has been pledged to the respective beneficiaries through the end of the year.
To Steve, Young Boy, Sun Zi,
Please correct me if I am wrong. The following info is copied form MINT website:
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Coin Specifications
Standard Weight = 5.670 g
Standard Diameter = 0.955 in (24.26 mm)
Thickness = 1.75 mm
Edge = Reeded
Composition = Cupro-Nickel Clad (8.33% Nickel, Balance Cu)
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So, my calculation is, for 5 coins, the silver content would be:
5.67*(1-8.33%)*5/31.1=0.8356 oz, not .90 oz.
Any comments?
I wasn’t planning on buying the 9/11 silver medals, but if spot silver hits $45 I may consider it. Anyone know when the 2011-P ATBs will be released and max mintages. I would sugggest limiting them to 20k max. Of course if they don’t raise the issue price and silver climbs into the upper 40s you will have a lot of interest.
Michael, you took the time to convert to WordPress and I think we are all grateful for your articles and our fellow numismatist comments, but PLEASE start to ban posters like Julie Ann who ramble and think this is some social outlet.
I used the wrong info for the above calculation? It seems that’s not for the silver ones.
So glad I picked up a proof MOH, and another set, each of the 10,and 11, ATB Silver Quarter sets recently. 11′s will be gone next for repricing.
Michael has many earlier posts that tell us what the contents are of the PM items.
Samual, has Tim said, this has been discussed many times. Go back to the blog dated Tuesday, July 19.
Or perhaps the best one from February 2011.
http://mintnewsblog.com/2011/02/silver-content-of-us-mint-products/
February talks of $34 a oz silver, July talks of $43 a oz silver.
Fiat is losing the battle. CBs are driving the price up with the only option they have–accumulate gold.
I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s sales report.
The ’11 silver sets would be a great move tonight!
I think (unlike the Buffalo/ AGE and other gold products), the MOH/Army comms cannot be sold after 12/31. Thanks Michael and bloggers for swaying me to purchase a set just before they were pulled for re-pricing.
You know folks, I hate to break it to ya. But when the dollar looses all it’s value and the economy tanks, even worse….when we see hyperinflation! Your nimusmatics will not fetch any more than the wieght content on the black market food & services. People like me will fair better with 90%, .999 bullion fine & generic. Do ya’ll honestly think if hyperinflation hits that somebody is going to give a premium because it is a collectors item. So much for protecting your wealth & purchasing power. I can see it know, I’m in line at some food line with some 90% or an oz. of fine bullion with some douche behind me with a 1921 silver eagle he says is worth $400. But when that coin is placed on a scale the the merchant tells him the real worth because of WEIGHT only, not nimusmatic value, he’ll be in for a shock! Might as welk by some rare baseball cards while ya’ll are at it.
Oooohhhhh Poo Poo, I hate to break it to you, Mr. James, that yes it may be true that the premiums may be squeezed as our economic environment becomes more uncertain but it is very unlikely that they will disappear entirely. Perhaps a strategy that involves collecting various forms of silver will provide the greatest opportunity.
James,
This website is primarily for people who are interested in reading and discussing various product releases by the US Mint. While gold prices certainly get discussed here, it is usually in the context of the Mint’s numismatic products.
Most people here are presumably buying these products because they like them, or because they want to flip them on ebay for dollars, or for reasons other than protection against inflation. Bullion products are of more interest to people seeking some kind inflation protection than numismatic products.
Furthermore, most of the people here are savvy enough to understand that trying to sell their numismatic products and not having any bullion is not the wisest decision in the event of some kind of financial collapse. No posted has ever said that they are expecting to sell a rare Indian pennies or buffalo or clad coins to survive the apocalypse.
Potential market mini crash this Friday when BB doesn’t announce QE3 at JH. Gold will probably dip too a bit. We are in a deflationary cycle for the next little while…liquidity trap. We are effectively at a negative interest rate. I heard some banks are actually charging to hold money now. Cash is king for now, but with stocks in the dumper and crappy rates, gold is still a fine place to be even if the chart looks like fall 1999 stock market chart.
i received my MOH unc and proof. The proof rattles in the plastic casing while the unc does not. Is this common?
I returned my 2011 W one ounce gold eagle, uncirculated Army gold commemorative $5 coin, and uncirculated MOH gold coin. I bought them before the two-tier increase a week or two ago. The gold eagle sold for less than $1900 at the time.
Gold prices are going up way too fast to be sustainable. I remember the stock market during the 1980s and 2000s — prices were going up like crazy. And what do you know, after the bubble burst, prices fell down hard and fast.
I am not rich. I am not a flipper or speculator. I am simply a collector who holds on to coins for years. The thought of spending over $2700 for three coins that, in the long run, may only be worth have as much as I paid for bothers me. Check out secondary prices and it’s clear that prices are primarily based on bullion value and not scarcity any more…
Just before the mint pulled the MOH they backordered and I ordered one on August 10th, well it actually issued today at the $444.95 price. I thought they may cancel my order but apparently not.
An argument can be made for the gains in the precious metals and particularly for gold that it would/should pause, digest and perhaps have a minor retracement. Very likely people will begin to arbitrage gold for silver. The point I would like to make though is that the Fed most likely does not and will not want cheaper bullion prices because this will cause an abandonment of fiat currencies hastening the collapse of the fiat money system.
Weekly sales report available.
http://news.coinupdate.com/?p=8988
The ’11 silver quarter proof set looks like it may finish with very low mintage.
My personal pick of what is currently being offered. Actually would be nice if they pulled the ’10 sets (not just for repricing). Feels like they have been available forever. Doubt there will be much demand for the ’10s in the aftermarket. Will the ’11s be available into ’12?
Julie, thanks for promising no more rambling posts.
Hello All,
I was referred to this site because of the headline of todays article. I have to agree that when the SHTF, bullion content will be the value, not the pristine ridges and shining face of my precious. However, one should be kind to the “Mint Collectors” this blog seems comprised of. I learned that the Mint and its products could be had for near melt value, sometimes. One other thing, I was just told that President Karsai (sic) sold the mineral rights of his country to China for a $Trillion plus (follow the money).
As much as I love the proof Buffalo, I can’t justify pulling the trigger for it. What I’ve been doing is taking an opportunity with the dip today in PM’s to pick up generic bullion as close to spot as I can – I’m talking grams of gold and ouncer silver bars. If silver was staying where it was yesterday I was going to buy some 2011 silver quarter proof sets. But with the dip, the spread is too far.
I’ve mentioned before, people speculating with mint issued products (purchasing on the secondary market) as investments because of low mintages can get really burned if the price of gold continues to climb. The new normal can mean low mintages in the future making those future issues the key dates in a particular series. Like I said, I’m sticking with bullion and am jealous of those that can buy the wonderful Buffalo at a high premium and not have to worry about their wallet.
I want to be able to collect and enjoy the hobby but must be ever mindful of our current economic state, my job security and the ponzi scheme known as fiat currency (the last all too apparent everywhere other than the mainstream media). Disposable income is at a premium for me.
Captain Overkill,
Thanks for the compliment on my article. The gold commems should be coming back before long. They will be on a pricing grid like the other numismatic gold products.
Now that gold is way down today, below last week’s close, I wonder what tomorrow’s prices will be. Probably just a little higher because the average will be higher, but not by that much. This pullback is a good sign for higher future prices.
As for the spouse mintages, remember these coins stay on sale a long time. I would not be so sure the Tylers will be overtaken. We will just have to see.
And people also like them because they are attractive coins unlike Eliza, for example.
Looks like Chavez’s demand for his Gold is tapping out the big boys accounts