The initial sales figures for the 2011 Proof American Platinum Eagle are now available. Through May 29, 2011, the US Mint has recorded sales of 6,786 coins.

This represents a slower start than each of the past two years. The 2009 Proof Platinum Eagle began with sales of 7,207 in the first three days. The 2010 Proof Platinum Eagle began with sales of 8,268 in the first three days. These two issues sold out of their maximum mintages of 8,000 and 10,000 respectively, after only seven days.

The 2011 issue has a much higher maximum mintage of 15,000 units. The initial sales account for 45.24% of this amount. A sell out could still happen, but it would likely develop over the course of months, rather than days or weeks.

In a previous post, I examined some of the factors working against the 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle such as the higher mintage, higher price, and current outpouring of expensive products from the US Mint.

The slower initial sales may also be the result in a shift in collector buying patterns. In past years, huge sales have tended to occur in the first few days, followed by an extreme drop off, and eventually the establishment of a somewhat stable base weekly sales level. This year, the sales drop off seems to be less extreme, for gold and platinum products in particular. Collectors may be more confident that the offerings will not immediately sell out and are willing to place orders days or weeks into the offering. Orders may also be delayed in the hopes of price decreases.

As a case in point, the 2011-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle had initial sales of just 1,098 coins. The following week sales fell to 237 coins. Pricing for the product was decreased, impacting the following two weekly sales periods, which had sales of 490 and 435.

View the full weekly sales report on Coin Update News.

Tomorrow, May 26, 2011 at 12:00 Noon ET, the US Mint will begin sales of the 2011 Proof American Platinum Eagle. This coin is the third in the design series presenting the core concepts of American democracy as expressed in the Preamble to the U.S. Constitution.

The reverse design for the coin was unveiled last week. It represents the concept “To Insure Domestic Tranquility” with an image of the harvest goddess emerging from a field of wheat. She holds a stalk of wheat in one hand and extends the other to a landing dove. The obverse features an image of the Statue of Liberty, designed by John Mercanti and used for each issue of the broader series.

The maximum mintage for the coin will be 15,000, with an ordering limit of five coins per household. The price of the offering will be $2,092.00 based on a platinum market price within the $1,750 to $1,849.99 range.

Can the 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle achieve a quick sell out similar to the past two issues of the series?

There are a few factors working against the offering this year. Foremost is the increased maximum mintage. At 15,000 coins, the mintage level is nearly double the number of coins minted for the initial coin in the design series. If the entire mintage manages to sell, the 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle would rank as the third highest mintage for a one ounce Proof Platinum Eagle, across all years of the series since 1997. Personally, I would rather purchase coins at the low end of the mintage spectrum, unless I have already made the decision to collect the entire series.

Second, the price is several hundred dollars higher than previous years and the coin is competing with numerous high priced offerings and the steady release of numismatic America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Coins. When the 2009 Proof Platinum Eagle was released, the popular Proof Gold and Silver Eagles had been canceled. This may have resulted in some collectors purchasing the platinum offering since it was the only proof American Eagle available for that year. This year, with a proliferation of choices, collectors may opt for other offerings.

On the other hand, there are some factors working in favor of the offering. Since late 2008, the United States Mint has not offered any American Platinum Eagle bullion coins. Initially, the reason cited for the temporary suspension was to focus production capacity of gold and silver bullion coins. However, production was never restarted and the US Mint is under no legal obligation to produce platinum bullion coins. With a lack of fresh US Mint platinum bullion coins available, precious metals investors need to turn to offerings of other world mints, prior year Platinum Eagles (which one precious metals dealer has priced at $200 above spot), or the 2011 Proof Platinum Eagle.

Another factor working in the favor of this offering is the design, which has been very favorably received by collectors. This is in contrast to the 2009 design, which was criticized by many collectors. The extent to which this might help sales may be minimal, since the price is so high.

Last, although I do not have any direct insight into the level of demand from this channel, others have written that administrators of Individual Retirement Accounts purchase quantities of the Proof Platinum Eagles each year. With increased interest in precious metals investing, this could be a factor driving continued sales, especially given the fact that there are no bullion Platinum Eagles available.

Below, I have summarized information on the 2009 and 2010 Proof Platinum Eagle offerings, including the maximum mintage, sales start date, original price, and sell out date. This might be useful for anyone comparing this year’s release to prior years.

2009 Proof Platinum Eagle

The US Mint announced a maximum authorized mintage of 8,000 coins and ordering limit of five per household. Sales began on December 3, 2009 with a price of $1,792 per coin, based on a platinum market price in the $1,450 to $1,549.99 range.

The first available sales figures through December 6, showed 7,207 of the coins sold. On December 10, the US Mint began accepting orders for a waiting list, signaling that orders had been received to meet the maximum mintage.

2010 Proof Platinum Eagle

The maximum authorized mintage for the offering was increased to 10,000 coins and the ordering limit of five per household remained unchanged. Sales began earlier in the year on August 12, 2010. The price for each coin was $1,892 based on a platinum market price in the $1,550 to $1,649.99 range.

Through August 15, the US Mint had sold 8,268, representing a faster pace of sales than the previous year, but still short of the maximum mintage. A pricing adjustment took place on August 18, reducing the cost of the coin to $1,792. The following day on August 19, the US Mint began accepting orders for a waiting list, signaling that orders had been received for the 10,000 maximum mintage.

Several years after the coins were originally issued, a new variety has been discovered for the 2007-W Proof $100 Platinum Eagle. NGC announced the discovery late last week and called it the “Frosted Freedom” variety.

The collectible versions of the 2007 Platinum Eagle feature the second of three reverse designs in a series entitled “The Foundations of American Democracy.” The designs represent the legislative (2006), executive (2007), and judicial (2008) branches of government.

For the executive branch design by Thomas Cleveland, a bald eagle is depicted with wings spread wide to represent freedom and a shield at ready to enforce laws and guarantee that freedom. Draped over the shield is a ribbon with the word “FREEDOM.”

On coins exhibiting the normal die polishing pattern, the word FREEDOM appears brilliant like the background fields of the coin and stands out against the ribbon. On the new variety, FREEDOM appears frosted in the same manner as the ribbon.

Interestingly, the US Mint’s press photo (shown above), which was subsequently used for illustrations in some coin guide books like the Red Book, shows the word FREEDOM as frosted. It is believed that this was a conceptual image that predated production.

NGC stated that so far only one example of the 2007-W Proof $100 Platinum Eagle Frosted Freedom Variety has been found, although “it’s likely that others must have been struck.”

The US Mint reported final sales of 3,768 of the 2007-W Proof $100 Platinum Eagle coins through individual sales and another 4,595 included in the 4 Coin Set. Anyone who has one of these coins in their collection should take a closer look to check if they have found another example of this new variety.

After almost exactly one week of sales, the 2010 Proof Platinum Eagle has been put on waiting list status at the United States Mint, signifying that orders have been received to fulfill the 10,000 coin maximum mintage.

Orders can still be placed on the US Mint’s website, however these orders will be for placement on a waiting list. In the event that coins become available due to order cancellations, orders are fulfilled from the waiting list on a first come, first served basis.

The 2010 Platinum Eagle proof coin went on sale Thursday, August 12 priced at $1,892 each. By Sunday, August 15, sales of the coin had reached 8,268, representing more than 80% of the maximum mintage. Yesterday, a pricing adjustment reduced the cost of the coin to $1,792 each, likely providing the impetus for reaching the 10,000 coin maximum.

The time frame necessary to reach the maximum is slightly faster than last year. The 2009 Proof Platinum Eagle took slightly more than seven days to sell the maximum mintage of 8,000 coins. Last year the sell out did not spark an immediate boost for secondary market prices. Rather, it took some time for prices to steadily increase to around $2,400 per coin. The most recently completed auctions for raw 2009 coins show prices just above $2,500.

The strong demand for the 2010 Platinum Eagle is somewhat of an anomaly for US Mint products this year. Other products have fallen short of prior year sales trends. The only other 2010 product to sell out was the Boy Scouts Commemorative Coins. In that situation, the coins experienced strong opening sales, but then dragged on for months before an official sell out was attained.