Today, December 20, 2011, the United States Mint began sales of the America the Beautiful Quarters Three Coin Set featuring Chickasaw National Recreation Area.
This is the tenth release for the product type launched in late 2010 that contains uncirculated versions of each quarter from the Philadelphia and Denver Mint and a proof version from the San Francisco Mint. The previous nine three-coin sets still remain available for sale at the US Mint, with sales totals ranging from a high of 20,079 for Yellowstone to a low of 13,182 for the most recently released set featuring Vicksburg.
The 2011 Chickasaw National Recreation Quarter Three Coin Set features the coins mounted to a durable plastic card. A brief description of the site and coin as well as the certificate of authenticity are included on the back. The product carries no stated maximum production limit or household limit. The price is $14.95 per set plus applicable shipping and handling.
As mentioned in the past, each of the coins are available through the 2011-dated annual sets offered by the United States Mint or the America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set and Uncirculated Coin Set. The current product represents a different packaging option.
Numismatic Gold and Platinum Product Price Decrease
It is likely that the prices for the US Mint’s gold and platinum numismatic products will be decreased tomorrow. The US Mint’s flexible pricing policy for certain products allows prices to be adjusted weekly based on the average weekly market price and the directional trend.
Gold numismatic products including the First Spouse Gold Coins, Proof Gold Eagles, Uncirculated Gold Eagle, and Proof Gold Buffalo are currently priced based on an average weekly London Fix price for gold within the $1650 to $1699.99 range. The average for the current weekly period from the prior Thursday AM to the current Wednesday AM London Fix price will likely fall within the $1,550 to $1,599.99 range. As long as the Wednesday PM price is below $1,650, then prices should be reduced by two increments, or $100 per ounce of gold content.
The one platinum numismatic product is the one ounce 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle, which is currently priced based on an average weekly London Fix price for platinum within the $1,450 to $1,549.99 range. The average for the current weekly period will likely fall within the $1,350 to $1,449.99 range. As long as the Wednesday PM price is below $1,450, then prices should be reduced by one increment, or $100.
The US Mint has generally made price changes effective around late morning on Wednesday.
More Updates to Preliminary 2012 Product Schedule
In a previous post, I shared part of the US Mint’s 2012 product schedule that was revealed on their website. They have just added two more entries showing a release date of “February” for both the Vicksburg and Chickasaw America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins.The release date for the Vicksburg America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin is now indicated as January 12, 2012. The release date for the following design featuring Chickasaw is scheduled for February 9, 2012.
There are also some indications of pricing for next year’s products, found on preliminary product pages. The US Mint shows the 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set priced at $41.95. This set contains the five quarters for the upcoming year struck in 90% silver. The 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Proof Set is shown priced at $14.95. This set contains the clad versions of the coins.
In both cases, the prices are the same as those currently in place for the 2011-dated versions of the sets.
The information included on the US Mint’s product schedule and preliminary product schedule can sometimes change, so this information is not definitive.
20,000 units as a high for one quarter is not earth shattering. Plus collectors on this blog, including me, constantly complain that they cannot be found in everyday change and we refuse to pay the high mint prices.
Given what has happened to the Presidential dollar coins, I wonder if the same can happen to this quarters series.
The Platinum coin is beautiful but oh that price (especially when I’m trying to buy Christmas gifts)
“The Platinum coin is beautiful but oh that price (especially when I’m trying to buy Christmas gifts)”
If it drops $100 dollars Wednesday, it puts it under $1700. That might be the lowest price for the Platinum coin in several years. Seems like now is the time to buy!
Will pass
vaughster- Now that you mention it, I believe that is the lowest US Mint price for a one ounce proof Platinum Eagle since 2008.
The 2009 was 1,792.
The 2010 was 1,892 and briefly 1,792.
This year started at 2,092 and until now the lowest price has been 1,792.
I was planning on buying an American Eagle gold uncirculated 1 oz coin by the end of the year but now the platinum coin will look very inviting at $1692. I have a decision to make.
I own one of each, but even as a better “deal”, this plat proof will have the HIGHEST mintage of the series so far, so long term will follow spot (plus fixed premium). The ’09 and ’10 have not really done so well.
The ’11 UNC AGE may have substantial up potential with a low mintage.
Seems gold is THE preferred PM.
J A – I have been reluctantly paying the mint price for the quarter rolls, but if the mintage’s for the quarters continue to go up I will stop that practice. As far a cancelling the series it could happen, do you remember the “first issue” series with the post cards and the stamp.
Looks like Vicksburg is scheduled for 1/12 and Chickasaw for 2/9. Glad dates are finalized.
Is last week sale report out yet?
Just posted now:
http://news.coinupdate.com/us-mint-sales-commemorative-coin-sales-conclude-1121/
Does anyone know when the U.S. Mint will conduct their repricing for today?
Looks like they filled all of the orders for the $5 gold commemoratives today.
Why anyone would buy the three coin sets is beyond me. They are so overpriced that it’s like throwing money away. Can anyone explain to me why the three coin sets cost so much? It can’t be the packaging or the coins themself.
Based on the data at http://www.lbma.org.uk/pages/index.cfm?page_id=53&title=gold_fixings I calculated the average of the five London AM fixings from Thur morning through this morning as $1603. Today’s London PM fixing was $1608. If both of these numbers fall to $1599.99 or lower next Wed, then US Mint one ounce numismatic gold coins will fall another $50 in price next Wed, right?
Was my weekly average calculation method correct? Or should I also have included London PM fixings in the weekly average price, too?
The calculation for the weekly average should include:
Thurs: AM fix, PM fix
Fri: AM fix, PM fix
Mon: AM fix, PM fix
Tues: AM fix, PM fix
Wed: AM fix
The new prices made effective today reflect the $1550 to $1599.99 tier.
Falcon
Believe it or not, there are those people who enjoy the coins just for what they are, some of the best landscape designs ever produced by the Mint. These people are attracted to what they are inexpensive, affordable, little works of art. Not everyone is interested in how much gold or silver is in them and they are so inexpensive virtually no downside risk (unless you buy them up big with the delusion that First Strike Mint State 70 Early Releases will make you rich) That’s just a marketing trap developed by 3rd party grading companies to make a fast buck selling plastic & labels and quick Ebay flipping. Anyone burned by investing in the slabbed 2010 ATB 5 oz. bullion issues in Dec. 2010 and more recently, the slabbed 2011 American Eagle 25th Anniversary 5 coin sets could admit to that! 2 perfect and current examples of how fast the big boys slab em up and push em out fast to cash out. By the time many small investors or speculators catch the drift they are left holding lots of “junk” 68 or 69 material, few or no 70 pieces and a pile of extra mint packaging that the grading companies had the audacity to charge extra for.
So, that said, a single 5 coin proof set for for a premium of $13.25, plus shipping, is a bargain. The designs can be enjoyed and appreciated as the art it is, and you could sleep well at night without the anxiety of checking the price of bullion metal every day!
Gary:
I have to agree – the funny aspect of the flipping game is that the coin trades hands between several flipper-investors and actually loses value till it finds a collector who really appreciates what the coin is all about, and pays a fair price and holds the coin firmly in his / her collection.
All of my USMint coin collection is going to stay very firmly in OGP.
Simon
You are absolutely right. The first flippers take the money and run and don’t gamble on their sure thing. Yeah, maybe if you hold a day or week more but not a good percentage bet & they know it. Cash out, secure your profits and then on to the next possibility. Hesitation (i.e.: unbridled greed) and the delusion of waiting for a price peak more often assures that you’ll get less profit at best and more often just scramble to unload the loss. This is when the knowledgeable collector can then get the item at a fair price over Mint issue or even get a better break if precious metals flatten or nosedive. This is not a new phenomenon, yet somehow they choose to believe that a self-anointed grading company can really qualitatively detect a meaningful difference between a 69 and 70 coin. The grading companies know their is gold in plastic labels and pay-as-you go descriptions of no meaning as it actually pertains to real coin production…”First Strike, First Issue, Early Release” and hairsplitting things like Cameo, Deep Cameo, Ultra Deep Cameo, Proof-Like, Ultra Proof-Like, Deep Mirror Proof Like. Give me a break please! My mother raised an ugly kid, not a stupid one! Just how does one qualify for a registry set? Most collectable adjectives? Well then, I want to buy mine as “Awesome” or “Monster”. The modern coins require no authentication time for the grading services, they already have that done for them.
Besides, did anyone bother to wonder… When the grading services get so backed up with submissions, how does the little guy really, truly, positively know that he’s getting back the same coin he sent in directly from the Mint that he never saw anyway because the grading services require you to send them in as received by the Mint, unopened and untouched. Answer: You could never really know for sure. Hmmmm.
All I can say is if you like a given coin, buy it from the Mint, keep the Mint packaging (some of it quite elegant). With the money you save on plastic, labels, adjectives, shipping, handling, time wasted in false hopes, anxiety (mostly just to break-even) you could, omigosh!, buy more coins if you liked to!
Gary,
Well said! I love it. Maybe someday everyone will come to their senses.
I second that Gary. Next someone will be trying to sell you air to breathe (wait, they are trying that with carbon credits).
That still does not answer my question. Why anyone would pay $14.95 for the three coin sets when the art can still be enjoyed for the same price with the five coin proof set or for less with the ten coin circulating set.
I am not talking about flipping just spending such a high price for a three coin set.
Same as the collectors/accumulators that buy the presidential coin and first spouse medal set on a card, as a souvenir of sorts. The ATB three-coin sets while seemingly overpriced, are actually nice collectible cards with a clean elegant finish. I would buy a few more parks had the silver coin been included, but that would probably jack the price up to $29.95 per card. Some casual collectors just want to have a nice souvenir of the parks they have visited without the extra coins they don’t need or do not want to pay the exorbitant premium on either the collector 5oz. coin or buy the bullion coin. This fills the needs of the budget minded collector quite nicely.
Falcon
Its a flavor difference only… some people like their ice cream to be chocolate and some people like vanilla. Nuthin more.
Either way, a good deal for souvenir collection as Zaz says.
Not a good deal when the same coins can be obtained at a more costly way while at the same time having the rest of the yearly parks. But everyone has thier our taste. I don’t have the money to throw away. As a collector I just don’t see the reason why I would spend five dollars a coin when I can enjoy all of the coins offered for the year cheaper.