The United States Mint will begin sales of the 2012 Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar commemorative coins on February 16, 2012 at 12:00 Noon ET. The available products will include individual proof and uncirculated coins, as well as the Defenders of Freedom Set.

The program was authorized under Public Law 110-357 to commemorate the legacy of the U.S. Army Infantry and the establishment of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center. Designs for the coin are intended to be emblematic of the courage, pride, sacrifice, sense of duty and history of the Infantry. From 12 different obverse and 7 different reverse design candidates, the Secretary of the Treasury selected those shown below, following consultation with the National Infantry Foundation, Commission of Fine Arts, and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

The obverse design depicts a modern Infantry soldier on rocky ground charging forward and beckoning troops to follow, symbolizing the “Follow Me” motto of the Infantry. Inscriptions include “Liberty”, “In God We Trust”, and “2012″. The reverse design features the crossed rifles insignia, the branch insignia of the Infantry. Inscriptions read “United States of America”, “One Dollar”, and “E Pluribus Unum”. The obverse was designed by Joel Iskowitz and sculpted by Michael Gaudioso, while the reverse was designed by Ronald D. Sanders and sculpted by Norman E. Nemeth.

The Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars are struck at the West Point Mint and carry the “W” mint mark. The coins have a maximum authorized mintage of 350,000 across all product options.

As part of the program, the US Mint is offering the Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar Defenders of Freedom Set. This set carries a production limit of 50,000 and includes one silver dollar and a replica dog tag on a miniature chain. The illustrated packaging includes a quote from President John F. Kennedy. Although the product description page indicates that the set will include the proof version of the silver dollar, the image and pricing for the set suggest that it may actually include the uncirculated version of the coin. The US Mint has made errors in product page descriptions on rare occasions in the past, which were eventually corrected. If the set actually does include the proof version of the coin, it will be priced lower than the individual proof coin after the introductory period has concluded. (See pricing, later in this post.)

Update: Apparently it is a proof coin.

The Defenders of Freedom Set represents the return of the special product offerings often created by the US Mint to feature commemorative coins. In 2008 for the Bald Eagle commemorative coins, the US Mint had offered a three coin proof set, young collector’s set, coin and medal set, and the American Legacy Collection. In 2009, the US Mint had offered the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set, which sold out of its 50,000 maximum mintage in about 30 hours despite a one per household ordering limit. In 2009, the Braille Education Set had also been offered, which eventually sold 10,698 units out of the 25,000 maximum. There were no multi-coin sets or special products offered for the 2010 or 2011 commemorative coins.

From the start of sales on February 16, 2012 at 12:00 Noon ET until March 19, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET, the Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars will be available at introductory pricing. After this date, regular pricing will go into effect, which reflects an increase of $5 per individual coin. The Defenders of Freedom Set does not carry an introductory price. All prices reflect a surcharge of $10 per coin, which will be distributed to the National Infantry Foundation for the purpose of establishing an endowment to support the maintenance of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center after its completion.

There are no household ordering limits in place for the individual proof and uncirculated Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars. The Defenders of Freedom Set carries a limit of 100 units per household.

Last year, the 2011 Army Silver Dollars sold 163,346 coins across proof and uncirculated versions, while the Medal of Honor Silver Dollars sold 157,619 across both versions. The Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar could potentially fare better due to the lower pricing, the offering of the special set, and the likely smaller number of competing numismatic offerings released by the US Mint.

In an unexpected move, the United States Mint has announced reduced pricing for the upcoming 2012 commemorative coins.

Price levels were previously announced through a publication in the Federal Register published on January 26, 2012 and dated January 19. The new prices were announced in a separate notice published today and dated February 3, 2012.

The uncirculated silver dollars will now carry an introductory price of $44.95 each and a regular price of $49.95. The proof silver dollars will have an introductory price of $49.95 and a regular price of $54.95. The new price levels represent a reduction of $5 per coin from the prices previously published.

The latest notice also includes the “Infantry Solider Silver Dollar Special Set” priced at $51.95. The previous notice had included the “Defenders of Freedom Set” priced at $61.95. It is not clear whether the newly published price refers to a different product or the same product. Also included in the latest notice is the “Star-Spangled Banner Bicentennial Silver Dollar Set” priced at $53.95.

No changes have been indicated for the $5 gold coins or the Star Spangled Banner Two Coin Set, which were included in the last notice. Prices for these products are based on a grid and will be adjusted weekly based on the average market price of gold.

The price reductions come as a surprise, since the market price of silver has risen by $3 per ounce between the date of the original notice and the latest notice. The US Mint’s pricing for silver numismatic products has been somewhat perplexing lately.

When the US Mint announced pricing reductions earlier this year, the press release stated, “The bureau was able to set these lower prices and maintain others by refining the product costing process, taking advantage of current lower prices for precious metals and negotiating better pricing from its suppliers.”

In addition to the impact of precious metals prices, I think some of the recent price changes may have had a lot to do with “refining the product costing process.”

Within the US Mint’s 2011 annual report, they had described a change in the method of allocation for sales, general, and administrative expenses. In previous years, these costs were allocated based on gross margin. From fiscal 2011 onwards, the costs are allocated based on the costs to manufacture, market, and distribute each product. The impact of the change was very apparent for circulating coin production costs, with a large increase in the amount of SG&A expenses allocated to the cent and a large decrease in SG&A allocated to the $1 coin.

This is just speculation, but perhaps for numismatic products, the US Mint had been greatly underallocating expenses to high ticket gold and platinum products and overallocating expenses to lower priced silver and clad products. After the allocations were refined, the US Mint’s “cost” to make certain products was lower, allowing prices to be reduced.

Whatever underlying reasons, lower prices for silver numismatic products will certainly be a welcome change for many collectors.

The 2012 Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars are expected to go on sale February 16, 2012. The 2012 Star Spangled Banner Silver Dollars and $5 Gold Coins are expected to go on sale March 5, 2012. There will be dedicated posts for each of the programs closer to the release date.

The United States Mint has just published pricing information for the 2012 Commemorative Coins. Prices for silver dollars remain unchanged from the prior year, gold coins will be priced according to a grid, and some different product types will be offered.

The two programs for this year feature the U.S. Army Infantry Solider and the Bicentennial of the writing of the Star Spangled Banner. The first program includes a silver dollar in proof or uncirculated versions, and the second program includes a $5 gold coin and silver dollar in proof or uncircualted versions.

As with previous commemorative coin programs, coins are available for introductory prices during a certain period before regular pricing comes into effect.

The proof silver dollars for both programs are priced at $54.95 introductory and $59.95 regular. The uncirculated silver dollars are priced at $49.95 introductory and $54.95 regular. Each silver dollar contains 0.7736 troy ounces of silver.

The $5 gold coins are priced according to a grid (see the grid here) and will be adjusted weekly based on the average weekly market price of gold. Based on the current price of gold within the $1,700 to $1,749.99 range, the proof $5 gold coins would be priced at $517.15 introductory and $522.15 regular. The uncirculated $5 gold coins would be priced at $507.15 introductory and $512.15 regular.

The publication reveals additional products for each program. The US Mint has not offered different presentation options or multi-coin sets for commemorative coins since 2009. In 2010 and 2011, commemorative coins were only offered individually in standard packaging.

A 2012 Infantry Solider Silver Dollar Defenders of Freedom Set is listed priced at $61.95. This set would likely contain one version of the silver dollar, along with historical or other information on the U.S. Army Infantry.

A 2012 Star Spangled Banner 2 Coin Set is listed with an introductory price of $567.15 and regular price of $572.15 (based on gold within the $1,700 to $1749.99 range). This set would contain the proof versions of the $5 gold coin and silver dollar. The multi-coin set price reflects reflects a discount compared to individual prices.

On December 16, 2011, the United States Mint concluded sales for the 2011 commemorative coins. Within weeks of that date, prices for the 2011-D Uncirculated Army Half Dollar have soared on the secondary market.

The coins have generated interest from collectors due to their mintage of 39,461, which represents the lowest mintage for a modern commemorative half dollar. Previously, the lowest mintage was held by the uncirculated version of the 1996 Olympic Swimming Half Dollar at 49,533.

Prices realized on eBay auctions over the past week for the uncirculated 2011 Army Half Dollars have covered a range from approximately $50 to $70 each. Some auctions have seen higher prices, particularly for coins graded PCGS MS69 First Strike. There have also been auctions in recent days with final prices just under $50, and even a coin listed with a Buy It Now price of $36.99, which was quickly purchased less than ten minutes after listing.

These prices compare to the last available US Mint price of $19.95 per coin. From the date of the initial release on January 31, 2011 until March 2, 2011, the coins were available at an introductory price of $15.95 per coin.

The high secondary market prices seem to have compelled more people to offer their coins for sale on eBay. In the first week of January, I remember seeing just a handful of the uncirculated Army Half Dollars listed, compared to about 80 listings right now. The higher supply of coins offered for sale may serve to dampen prices.

Besides the low mintage, another interesting aspect to the Army Half Dollar is the grading. Previously issued commemorative half dollars were produced with more of a satin or matte finish, and the special striking and handling allowed for a good number of coins to receive the highest grade of MS70 from PCGS or NGC. Using the 2008-S Bald Eagle Half Dollar as an example, the NGC population census shows 1,190 graded NGC MS 69 and 5,475 graded NGC MS 70.

The 2011 Army Half Dollars seem to have been produced with a finish resembling the brilliant finish found on the 2011 Uncirculated Set coins, which makes obtaining the highest certified grade much more unlikely. The NGC population census shows 2,008 coins graded MS 69 and just 16 graded MS70. The PCGS Population Report shows zero coins graded MS70.

The United States Mint concluded sales of the 2011 commemorative coins last week on December 16, 2011. The two programs which feature the U.S. Army and the Medal of Honor have been somewhat overlooked this year due to the many other numismatic products competing for attention.

The latest sales report posted today on Coin Update provides updated sales figures for the commemorative coins through December 19, 2011.

These numbers should reflect all final orders placed through the scheduled conclusion of sales. It is possible that the US Mint may continue to update the figures slightly in the coming weeks to account for order cancellations and returns, but most likely there will not be any significant changes.

The numbers do not result in any changes to the mintage rankings of the coins compared to other modern commemorative issues that were presented in this previous post. The uncirculated $5 gold coins are the third and fourth lowest mintage amongst modern commemoratives with the same finish and denomination. The proof $5 gold coins are the first and second lowest mintages for the same finish and denomination. Both the proof and uncirculated versions of the Army Half Dollars are the lowest mintage for their respective finishes and denomination.

The sales from commemorative coin programs are also often looked at in comparison to the maximum authorized mintages. For the U.S. Army commemorative coins, the $5 gold coins sold 25,235 of the 100,000 maximum (25.24%), the silver dollars sold 163,346 of the 500,000 maximum (32.67%), and the half dollars sold 107,810 of the 750,000 maximum (14.37%).

For the Medal of Honor commemorative coins, the $5 gold coins sold 26,263 of the 100,000 maximum (26.26%), and the silver dollars sold 157,619 of the 500,000 maximum (31.52%).

Looking ahead

For the 2012 commemorative coins, there will once again be two programs featured, but with a smaller number of coins. The program commemorating the legacy of the United States Army Infantry and the establishment of the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center will include only a silver dollar. The program commemorating the writing the of Star Spangled Banner will feature $5 gold coins and silver dollars.

For 2013, two programs have already been authorized by Congress. The first will mark the 100th anniversary of the Girl Scouts of America and include silver dollars. The second will recognize and celebrate the 5-Star Generals and include $5 gold coins, silver dollars, and half dollars.

So far one program has been authorized for 2014 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. This program will include silver dollars.