The United States Mint has resumed sales for previously suspended silver numismatic products, with some at lower prices. An array of silver products had been suspended on September 26, 2011, following a sharp decline in the market price of silver.
Yesterday, sales of the 2010 and 2011 Silver Proof Sets and America the Beautiful Silver Proof Sets had resumed at the prices previously in effect.
Today, sales of the 2011 Proof Silver Eagle, 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle, and America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins have resumed. These products reflect price decreases of $9.50 or $10.00 per ounce of silver content. A summary of the old price, the new price, and the change is included in the table below.
| Old Price | New Price | Change | |
| 2011 Proof Silver Eagle | 68.45 | 58.95 | -9.50 |
| 2011-W Unc Silver Eagle | 60.45 | 50.95 | -9.50 |
| ATB 5 oz. Silver Unc Coins | 279.95 | 229.95 | -50.00 |
I believe this is the first time that the US Mint has reduced the prices of silver numismatic products during the course of an offering.
On the other hand, they have increased prices of silver products during an offering. Most recently this took place for the 2011 Proof Silver Eagle, which had its price raised from $59.95 to $68.45 in early September. The decrease effective today, brings the price $1 below the original price.
It seems like the 25th anniversary set will come in around 270-300. I would be exstatic if it came in under 250!
My wife will be happier now that i will be spending $50 less for the Gettysburg AtB P!!
Too late to cancel, but I’m going to order and send the first one back…first day sales weren’t that heavy that the risk is minimal. Too bad they don’t do something like the Amazon Pre-order guarantee, because essentially, they waited to ship until the new prices were in effect..poor customer service. It would have been really nice if they had honored the new price on the orders that they didn’t ship yet.
It’s a tough call on the price of the 25th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set. With the new pricing, it seems like the sets should only be $299.95 now. However, it seems doubtful that we’ll get that lucky. Maybe we might get them for the $319.95-$329.95 range. The Mint KNOWS that these will be hot sellers, so they probably won’t be able to resist charging extra and just chalking it up to “overhead” or “materials cost.” They’ll allocate cost to the production of the special “reverse proof” dies, and the polished wooden boxes the coins will be housed in.
I just wish that the 5th coin in the set would have been an uncirculated coin from Denver with the “D” Mint-Mark. A first ever coin in the series, and a third coin unique to the set. Including a plain vanilla bullion coin in the set just isn’t exciting. The only thing unique about it is for those who send sealed boxes in for grading. Only 100,000 bullion coins could potentially be slabbed as coming from the 25th Anniversary Sets, while the other 50 million or more of them won’t. It’s still not as exciting as a Denver coin would have been! Come on, it’s the 25th anniversary. Pull out all the stops!
John: Agree with you. Pathetic customer service. And they haven’t even shipped yet! The order is controlled by the warehouse once the cancellation check boxes disappear and when you call customer service, they just tell you “Too late”. What company in America would operate like that? Horrible. I thought I would have a day or two to make changes once the new prices came out, but the check boxes disappeared apparently at precisely the moment the new prices appeared.
Well i plan to buy 5 and save a set. Has anybody seen any ebay presales? Has anybody heard about the new palladium coin? A lot of the stuff i want to buy is a massive waiting game:/
Fantastic news!! Seems like my waiting paid off, I just ordered myself a Gettysburg. At a price near $200, this product is MUCH more affordable. I am expecting the anniversary set will be markedly cheaper as a consequence of this. The baseline is probably going to be more like $300-$315 now as opposed to the $350-$400 I was fearing. I have to say now I am almost grateful for those silly margin hikes. Who knows, maybe if we’re lucky they’ll do another before the anniversary set is released.
Art and John,
While there are certainly problems facing the US Mint’s customer service, I have to say I am much more respectful of them and their policies after dealing with the Perth Mint. Anyone who tried to get a silver dragon typeset on Monday night should know what I am talking about. There is always room for improvement, but let’s not lose perspective either. I think they are better in this regard than their competition.
EvilFlipper,
On the palladium coin, the way the process works (as I understand) is this:
1. Congress must authorize a study to determine whether a palladium product offering is profitable.
2. The Mint must perform said study.
3. The study must be submitted to… either Congress or the Treasury I believe
4. Congress must then pass legislation authorizing the palladium eagle program
5. The palladium eagles must then actually be minted, and then offered up for sale
As far as I know, the Mint is still in the middle of step two. I would not look for any palladium eagles until at least Q3 2012, maybe even later – I would be disappointed but not surprised if the product took until 2013 to emerge. An additional challenge for the mint is they have never produced a palladium product before, so there may be a learning curve as there was for the America the Beautiful five ounce coins.
Given the revised pricing for the current 2011 ASE PR AND UNC products, and the fact that the anniversary set will include two unique coins (with the 3rd and 4th lowest ASE mintages behind the 1995-W PR and the 2008 UNC w/ 2007 Reverse) and the fancy presentation case, I still see pricing at the $300 to $350 range. Anything lower will be a huge surprise. Whatever the price, I will be happy to add one set to my collection.
Quick question – does anyone know exactly when the release date is for the Silver Eagle set? I know it should be sometime soon…
Does anyone recall the initial price, and/or the lowest price of the 2011 gold buffalo for the year????
You guys appear to be assuming that the market study will find that there IS in fact any demand for an over-priced piece of palladium. I doubt that there is. We are among the few people on earth who even know about this, and most of us would probably only be in for one, as a type specimen.
So while mining interests in Idaho and Montana used to be able to have their congressmen slip this in as an earmark, a valid market study will leave this project on the drawing boards.
Tony – Initial pricing for the 2011 Gold Buffalo back in May was $1760. I can’t recall with certainty, but there may have been one lower tier of pricing in the first couple of weeks. Since mid to late June and up until this most recent sell-off, the prices just kept climbing. As of today, the price is still $150 over the initial offering.
RSF,
The high price of metals products has not really scared away a core group of collectors from the proof platinum eagle program, despite the fact that metal is much less interesting to many people and this year’s price started at $2100. I think the most likely outcome of the study will find that there is a market for a proof palladium eagle to be released every year in about the same numbers as a platinum eagle. Assuming the price of palladium stays about where it is now, it will also be much more affordable to collectors than more expensive proof platinum or proof gold products.
I do think it’s unlikely that we will get actual bullion palladium eagles though. The demand doesn’t seem to be there for them (It’s worth noting that few mints release any platinum bullion coins these days), and after the AtB bullion fiasco I think the Mint is going to tread more carefully.
And if your contention is that corrupt mining interests/lobbyists are in charge of the process, then I think it’s likely we are going to get a palladium eagle either way.
I’m still thinking $300 or more on the 25th.
Curiously, my ATB order for Gettysburg completely processed today. I guess they used the extra $50 as an expedite fee since all new price orders say 10/22. But I can’t complain, I had ample time to cancel and reorder when made avail. Maybe I’ll get both the Mt. Hood and Gettysburg on Monday or Tues. Then get ready for the 25th set!
Jimmy, the way things are going with the ATB P silver 5 ounce coins, the US MInt will be lucky to sell anywhere near 10,000 units. Don’t forget that folks can buy up to 5 each of the 2011 designs. And so far, sales of the Gettysburg coins have been dismal.
For Tonyrigatony – According to Michael’s archived product release article from May, the 2011 Gold Buffalo had an initial pricing of $1760. There may have been one week of lower tier pricing, but I can not recall with certainty. After all of the recent reductions, the coin currently is priced $150 above the initial offering.
As of today, this coin is tracking to be the second lowest mintage Gold Buffalo PR after the 2008 W. However, the Mint has demonstrated previously, in 2006 and 2007, that they are willing to leave these coins on sale for ever. Since the current, second lowest mintages are at 49K, this coin might be worth a look.
Also lurking out there but not discussed a whole lot is the 2011 BU Gold Buffalo that only is available to the APs for further distribution. 113K pieces have been sold to date. The current low mintages for the BU coins is 200K. Again, keep in mind that the APs may snap up more coins before the end of the year and make them available forever.
The mint & PBGS are in for a slew of returns on the Gettysburg ATB. With the slow sales, who isn’t going to order a new one at $228 and return the $279 coin? I do caution those who do that the claim of new orders not shipping until 10/23 is false, this is a new policy to put a two week delay (it will shift daily) to make it look like PBGS is shipping from stock faster than they really are. I mean, come on, they have thousands of Gettysburg ATBs in stock. PBGS has been claiming a two week wait then products suddenly come in stock right before they ship. If you look at their actual performance from order to ship, they have gotten worse at shipping from stock than they were before, which was already dismal. I have room in my CC account to go ahead and order a new ATB and just turn the one about to ship around without even opening it. For $50 minus the $10 it will cost to sent one back (priority, insured) it is worth the hassle. I too think it was downright sneaky of them to lower the price so much and not give us the new price or at least the opportunity to cancel. This is just another PBGS ploy to make more money than they are entitled to under their contract. The mint was adamant that consumers were not to be screwed by vendors with the original bullion ATBs, apparently because they reserve the right to screw us themselves.
Clair – why not just refuse the shipment at the time of delivery and save yourself another $10. That’s what I plan on doing. I’m very disappointed regarding the handling of orders that weren’t cancelled ahead of the repricing but shame on me for being an optimist and not doing so.
The mint had been shipping individual ATB coins via UPS next day service for the $4.95 standard shipping price. I wonder if they will continue to do that at the new, lower price.
For the 25th set, the proof one is $58.95, the two UNC ones are $50.95, the BU one is around $37, the total is about $198. The price we don’t know is the reverse proof coin and the box. So, I would guess the price will be in the range of $300-$320.
the mint willing to sell those bullion at $2.00 over spot. so about $33.37 each. and the trend is not so good. i would say around $200.00 to $250.00 a set. the 20th anniversary is offered at $100.00 a set before.
In 2006, the proof SAE cost ~$28, the uncirculated SAE was ~$20, and the three coin set (with the reverse proof) was $100. If we go with $59 for the proof and $51 for the uncirculated coins, that puts us at $161, if we assume that the reverse proof is still $24 more than the normal proof (100-28-20=52, 52-28=24), it adds $83, putting us at $244. Adding another $45 for the bullion coin (SWAG) brings the total for the coins to $289. Add in the fancy box and I would say that the $300 to $320 estimate is spot on. The only thing left to find out is just how SANFUed the mint is when they finally announce the set.
I did also notice, that while the Glacier ATB is on the product schedule on 10/25, it is no longer on the coming soon list, which includes coins out to 11/14.
The mint only gives the $2 over spot price to the small group of authorized buyers who order in ~million dollar batches. The price to collectors (which includes the overhead associated with single coin sales) has to be high enough to avoid frequent repricing events so I think if it were to be sold in one piece quantities and packaged like the uncirculated version, it would be $6 to $8 below the uncirculated price. While I have no reason to believe that the mint will try to take any advantage of what they might think the set will eventually be worth when pricing it, I also don’t think they are going to give us the bullion coin at anywhere near $2 over spot (APMEX single coin price is $5.50 over).
The Mint added this to their homepage:
“American Eagle Silver Proof and Uncirculated Coins and America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins, previously taken off sale for repricing, are now available at new LOWER PRICES. Be sure to PLACE YOUR ORDER TODAY!!!”
I’ve never seen this time of marketing from them before. They use these hackneyed, low budget marketing tactics like using red colored fonts, bold, capitalized letters, multiple exclamation points at the send of a sentence. Crappy grammar and tacky.
It sounds like a used car lot or an eBay “Buy It Now” auction instead of a reflection of the Mint’s heritage, level of class and sophistication. It just seems totally out of character and sort of lame.
Excuse me, I meant “type of marketing,” not “time of marketing.”
SunTzu:
I totally agree with you. It gives me the impression that they are desperate to unload the ASEs and ATBs. I am sure many (including myself) are skipping the ASEs until the 25th anniversary comes out. Most are also skipping the ATBs. I have a complete set of the 2010 bullion and numismatic versions but from now on I will buy only the ones I like (1 or 2/year). Too many products and too overpriced in a short time frame.
What irks me most with the ATB repricing is not actually that the mint did not give me the opportunity to cancel my order at the higher price (even though that does get my goat) but that they once again charged my CC yesterday but still have not shipped the coin. They clearly state in the FAQs (and have for years) that you will be charged when your order ships (not days before). What is so damn hard about charging and shipping on the same day? PBGS has been nothing but trouble from the day they took over fulfillment for the mint and I will celebrate the day they lose the contract.
I also agree that the website is poorly handled. The “makeover” they did a while back was nothing but a color scheme change, they changed nothing of substance in the user interface. They still do not have that one most important customer service, a way to send them comments on-line. They should publish email addresses for both mint and PBGS customer service and have a simple comment mechanism like the one we are using here.
I got a pre-release brochure from Chattanooga Coin which indicated shipping of the 5 piece ASE 25th Anniversary set to begin on 11/20/2011. Their pricing is $699 which alarms me given the drop in silver prices and at what price the US Mint will sell this set?????
Does anyone know if any companies are buying sets of the 2010 America the Beautiful coins? I am not having much luck selling them on eBay.
What were you asking? I see a lot of them sitting there ungraded for $1299.00. I’d love to look into the future and see what they’ll be selling for. I admit I thought they would be the second coming and bought 6 sets. That was a crazy time!
Any of the big online PM dealers will buy them. They all have “sell to us” links on their site.
Sam – Keep in mind that this pre-release notice came from a retailer who will be using his friends and family plan to obtain as many of these as possible during the first day of release, then will earn his profits / pay his bills by taking advantage of the limited quantities and extreme popularity of the set.
His advertized price only reaffirms what we had suspected: $300 – $350 from the Mint at release. His late shipping date makes sense, too, as the Mint will take orders in OCT, then ship in early NOV. The retailer will need to take delivery, repackage and ship to his customers. Unfortunately, because the retailer will be opening the mint boxes to redistribute his bulk orders, those sets probably will not be eligible for First Strike or ER designations unless he submits them first.
SunTzu, I have been asking $1,300 for a set of 5 ungraded 2010 ATB 5 ounce bullion silver coins. I have had no luck selling them on eBay. There must be a catch.
Can you recommend some of the big time PM sellers? I checked APMEX and found that they were not buying the sets.
http://www.providentmetals.com/2010-5-oz-america-the-beautiful-5-coin-set-brilliant-uncirculated.html
$1100.00.
That is one place
The silver priceing by the mint reminds me of the oil and gas priceing. Get the price up high, reduce the price a little bit and folks think they are getting a deal and buy more, more, more. The government wheels turn slow but steady. Only in America.
Quit bellyaching about mint pricing. The RCM would charge nearly $500 for a 5oz silver coin. The just were selling a 1oz platinum at $2,999.
Just ordered a Mt. Hood at the new price. This will sell out and think it will end up with a nice premium, especially since most sold for 20% more than now. I also like the way the coin looks. This is one of the few that I think looks better in the P-numismatic version than the bullion version.
I am a USMint customer since 1982, and a coin collector. Several coins in my collection have appreciated very nicely over time. They also look as great as they did when I acquired them from the USMint. I purchased these coins without a single thought about their potential value or whether they would be winners or losers. If I liked the theme I purchased the coins and sets. I applaud the USMint’s efforts in issuing new and interesting products, and taking good care of me all these years.
I’ve been collecting for a little longer than simon and think:
1-Coin collecting, overall, has been and will always likely be a poor investment. If I had put all my Mint money into the stock market, a mortage on in investment piece of land, or into bullion, I’d be ahead (especially with all my clad). Occasionally you get a winner, but mostly not a good investment. PMs have done better when you invest in bullion, not numismatic products since if prices go up a lot, most PMs numismatic products will follow bullion.
2-The massive amounts of PM products the Mint has offered recently had been killing most of us financially and made them less popular now and less in demand thus killing premiums.
3-I don’t think the Mint is “taking care of me” when I buy silver products that have not been on a pricing grid early on, as a dumb loyal customer, then they lower the prices later….
4-Above complaints on record, I agree with the Mount Hood as a smart choice now, not sure about the ’11s yet and will wait.
I too just bought more Mt Hood coins. My favorite “p” coin to date, by far. I agree with ClevelandRocks, the Hood looks good. Wasn’t planning on buying the 2011 P series, but that was @ $279/coin. At $229, I figured might as well add a Gettysburg to the list.
Ikaika,
I think the main interest is unloading the AtBs and not the ASEs. Proof ASE sales have been very robust this year, and I think the uncirc ASEs are also doing well, surprisingly so. They at least least exceeded my initial predictions for them.
I do think they’re desperate to get some Gettysburgs moving though. They don’t want them sitting on the site for a year, I think they want a quick turnover.
the mint might have to increase its gold products by one tier on wednesday. be sure to buy some before price increase.
VABEACHBUM
I am just amazed at the amount of markup but understand.
Finally! My Gettysburg shipped today along with my extra Mt. Hood. Now just bring on the Anniversary set!
mookem: Was your order recent under the new pricing or an older existing order? My recent order still says backordered but an older order at the old price has been shipped.
I agree Jimmy, with the yellow on the move up again, this may be the last for this price tier. I went ahead and ordered the spouse proof I needed, afraid to wait any longer. Next up, the Anniv set.
I just received my 2012 dragon typeset from Fed Ex today. The set is larger and heavier than I thought. The coins are very nice and from what I can see on eBay, they are selling for a really nice price.
Art, This was the original order from 9/22. I’m not sure why they are separating the orders but the box weighs more than the first 5. Maybe they included a bonus! lol Yeah right……I hope not, I’m keeping all of them sealed and collecting the entire run.
Does anyone know the date that the mint is to release the SAE anniversary set?
Just read the mint release on the 25th anniversary set an it said pricing will be released as close as possible to the release date. My guess is everyone will have to move fast and keep their eyes glued to the blog amd the mint website to get the price and time.
Flipper – Like you, I had spent my lunch hour pulling the Media Release out of the Mint archives, hoping to find some additional hints. Basically came to the same conclusion you did: The announcement will be relatively last minute, and will offer anywhere from one to three days advanced notice. Given the Mint’s current marketing and sales practices, the Anny Sets will go on sale on either a Tuesday or a Thursday. Michael’s Blog is definitely the best source for the latest and most accurate information.
Will the US Mint raise, lower, or keep gold coin prices the same this week?
I received my Mt. Hood extra today and it is amazing! Definitely an SP70 candidate but I would never dream of slabbing such a gem. It’s the first of the ATBs that I have opened or even seen in hand. I recommend everone get this coin.
Has anyone received their Gettysburg? Any bonus? I wonder why it weighs 1.10 when all others were .95 pounds?
Upsy Daisy!
I just received the 5 oz Gettysburg I ordered in September for 279.99. I called the Mint to complain about the price drop , and not being able to cancel and re-order.
They said they will credit my account $50 if I keep the quarter.
Sounds like good customer service to me!
the mint is too slow to react to price fluctuations of silver and gold especially when the price drops. while they quickly raised the price as silver accelerated in price over the summer, until the JPMORGANS who own the world, took steps to depress the price, but then the Mint took ages, first suspending sales altogether, then finally dropping the price just a little. one problem is sellers on ebay and other sites do not follow the price trends and adjust their prices accordingly. I guess the fools who continue to buy make it easy for them to gouge other buyers
since if they are selling why lower the price? And exactly what investments other than precious metals should one be buying if one adheres to the percentages recommended by your commentators? thanks. isn’t it nice to have a reply that is calmer than usual? by the way, my daughter is on the internet on the univ of houston’s library website talking about writing her best selling novel, THE FALSE PRINCESS.
I just called them complaining about the price difference on the Gettyburg 5Oz silver coin and they said I’ll be put on the list to get the $50 refund, but only for the people who called.
UPS delivered the 5 oz Gettysburg coin yesterday and (my wife ‘cuz I wasn’t home) refused to accept it per my instructions. It was returned to the mint. They never gave me the option of a $50 credit if I kept the coin, said I needed to send it back for a refund.