The United States Mint shows a great deal more restraint in creating and offering special numismatic products when compared to other world mints. Sometimes, this is attributed to the central role of Congress in authorizing denominations, compositions, coin designs, and specific coin programs. In many respects, the US Mint must simply carry out the requirements set out by Congress.

However, there are many areas where the Mint or the Treasury Department does have some discretion or authority with regards to coins. Based on my reading of the law or some past precedents, listed below are some things that the US Mint or Treasury Department does have the authority to do. I am not specifically recommending anything, just laying out what is possible under current law.

Coin Designs May Be Changed Once Every 25 Years

Under 31 U.S.C. § 5112(d)(2), the Secretary of the Treasury has the authority to change the design of coins, as long as the existing design has been in use for at least 25 years. With regards to circulating coins, the Secretary has deferred to Congress for the past 60 years or so and (as stated by the Mint) has no intention of changing this arrangement.

Some coin series that would be eligible for a change include the Roosevelt Dime, Kennedy Half Dollar, American Gold Eagle, and American Silver Eagle.

Some coins do have basic design requirements established by law, so in these cases the design requirements would still need to be followed. For example, the American Silver Eagle is required to have an obverse design symbolic of Liberty, while the reverse should have a design of an eagle.

Authority to Redesign the American Gold Buffalo Bullion Coins

The authorization for the American Gold Buffalo bullion and proof coins is provided under 31 U.S.C. § 5112(q). This requires that for the first year of issue, the coins should bear the original obverse and reverse designs of James Eagle Fraser from the 1913 Type 1 Buffalo Nickel.

For subsequent years, the Secretary has the authority to change the design on the obverse or reverse of the bullion coins. The design change could be made after consultation with the Commission of Fine Arts and review by the Citizens Coinage Advisory Committee.

Broad Authority to Mint and Issue Platinum Coins

The authority to produce the American Platinum Eagles comes from 31 U.S.C. § 5112(k). However, rather than authorizing only this specific program, the law provides incredibly broad authority that could be used to create virtually any type of platinum coin.

The Secretary may mint and issue platinum bullion coins and proof platinum coins in accordance with such specifications, designs, varieties, quantities, denominations, and inscriptions as the Secretary, in the Secretary’s discretion, may prescribe from time to time.

This seems to allow the creation of infinite new series of platinum coins with any denomination, specifications, designs, or themes that the Secretary chooses. During the debt ceiling ordeal, someone floated the idea that the Secretary could create two $1 trillion platinum coins, deposit them at the Federal Reserve, and write checks from the proceeds.

Broad Authority to Mint and Issue Gold Coins

Under 31 U.S.C. § 5112(i)(4)(C), the Secretary of the Treasury has broad authority to prescribe procedures and specifications for the minting and issuance of new gold coins, including the diameter, weight, fineness, or design.

The popular 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin was created using this authority.

Extend the America the Beautiful Quarters Program

When authorizing the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, Congress provided the Secretary of the Treasury with the discretion to authorize a second round of designs for the program. Each state, territory, and the District of Columbia would have a second national park or site featured on a quarter design under the same requirements as the original program. The first coin from round two would immediately follow the last coin from round one.

The Secretary may make this determination any time during the nine year period beginning after the issuance of the first America the Beautiful Quarter.

Mint Coins for Foreign Countries

Under 31 U.S.C. § 5111(a)(4), the Secretary of the Treasury may mint coins for a foreign country as long as it does not interfere with regular minting operations. The Secretary would also need to charge for minting the coins based on the cost of minting.

To my knowledge, the US Mint is not currently producing coins for any foreign countries, although they have sometimes done so in the past.

Use of Different Mint Facilities or Finishes

At various times in the past, the US Mint has created special numismatic items by producing coins at different mint facilities or with a special finish. This has created some popular or extremely rare coins and usually generated a great deal of excitement with collectors.

In 1995, the US Mint produced a limited number of Proof Silver Eagles at the West Point Mint with the “W” mint mark. During this year, the standard proof Silver Eagles were struck at Philadelphia and carried the “P” mint mark. The 1995-W Proof Silver Eagles were only included as part of an expensive set including four proof gold coins, which served to limit orders and create a low mintage rarity.

In 1996, the US Mint struck Roosevelt Dimes at the West Point Mint with the “W” mint mark to mark the 50th anniversary of the series. These coins were included only as part of the 1996 Mint Set. This mint sets was one of the most popular in years, but despite the larger mintage, the sets and 1996-W Roosevelt Dimes still carry a premium and make for an interesting issue within the lengthy series.

In 1994, 1997, and 1998, the US Mint struck Jefferson Nickels (1994, 1997) and Kennedy Half Dollars (1998) with a “matte proof finish”. These coins were only included within special commemorative coin sets.

The US Mint has continued to periodically use different mint facilities or finishes for some offerings. In recent years, we have had reverse proof Gold and Silver Eagles, as well as the collectible uncirculated Gold and Silver Eagles with “W” mint marks and Silver Eagles with the “S” mint mark.

This week sales of the 2012 Proof Gold Buffalo began at the United States Mint. Meanwhile, the 2011-dated version of the coin has remained available, with the sales ending date uncertain. Presumably, the US Mint will continue to sell the coin as long as inventory remains available.

The US Mint has often been inconsistent or unpredictable with regards to sales ending dates for their numismatic products. For most products, ending dates are not specifically stated on product pages or within press releases. Sometimes sales ending dates can be surmised based on the treatment of prior year products of the same type, however on many occasions the US Mint deviates from past patterns. Even when a specific policy is known, other factors can cause an early sell out or extended offering period.

Here are the many different methods that the US Mint has used to conclude numismatic product sales:

For products with a stated maximum mintage or product limit, sales may conclude when orders have been received to meet the maximum. However, to complicate matters a bit, the US Mint does not always produce the entire maximum. This results in some situations where a sell out occurs at a sales level that is well below the maximum. Recently, some of the individual 2011 Proof Gold Eagles have sold out, well below their maximum product limits.

Some products like the Proof Silver Eagles or Proof Gold Buffalo Coins are offered with no stated maximum mintage. For the past several years, the Proof Silver Eagles have abruptly concluded sales during the year of release after the entire amount that the US Mint produced has been sold. In 2009 and 2010, the Proof Gold Buffalo coins saw their sales extend into the following calendar year, but concluded sales prior to the release of the current year coin. The 2011 Proof Gold Buffalo continued sales into the following year and has remained available along side the current year coin.

The First Spouse Gold Coins have an unevenly implemented availability period of “approximately one year.” Generally, each coin has remained available until the corresponding coin in the following calendar year is released. For example, the first release from 2011 is expected to remain available until the start of sales for the first release of 2012. The exceptions to this availability period have included the Julia Tyler and Letitia Tyler coins, which both concluded sales when the Jane Pierce Coin was released. This shortened the availability of the Julia Tyler coin to about ten months. In another situation, the release of the Eliza Johnson coin was delayed, leaving the Abigail Fillmore uncirculated coin available for thirteen and a half months. There were many other exceptions for the 2010 releases, which almost all sold out earlier than expected since the US Mint did not produce enough coins to last for the full period.

Most commemorative coins have a sales period specified within the authorizing legislation. The typical language provides that coins may be sold only during a one year period beginning on January 1. In these situations, the US Mint concludes sales at a date in mid-December to allow time for fulfillment of all orders by the close of the year. The sales ending date is usually announced a little bit in advance.

Some other numismatic offerings do not have a legally specified sales period, however, the US Mint has provided a specific date for the conclusion of sales. This date has usually been announced slightly before the conclusion of sales. Examples of this include the products sometimes placed in the “Last Opportunity” section of the Mint’s website near the end of the year. The popular 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle had an announced ending date of December 31, 2009. For current products, the 2011 September 11 National Medals have an announced sales ending date of December 31, 2012.

For many years, sales of the annual Proof Sets and Mint Sets would typically conclude to coincide with the release of the next year of issue. This pattern was broken when the 2011 sets were released very early in the year, and the US Mint decided to continue selling the 2010 sets until December 31, 2011. There has been no indication of when sales of the 2011 sets will conclude.

The America the Beautiful Quarter Rolls and Bags have their own uniquely specified sales ending date. As indicated on the product page, the bags and rolls are to remain available for one year after the original release date. The US Mint has not followed this requirement exactly, but rather has concluded sales to coincide with the start of sales for the corresponding quarter for the current year. Sales of the Gettysburg Quarters recently concluded to coincide with the release of the El Yunque Quarter products. The total availability period was one year plus an extra week.

Finally, some products remain available for sale seemingly unendingly. For example, you can still purchase 2009 William Henry Harrison First Day Coin Covers or 2010 Lincoln Cent Rolls. Many 2010 America the Beautiful products also remain available for sale. Some of the Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Sets back to 2010 also remain available.

The US Mint has basically been all over the map with product sales ending dates. While it might be nice to allow a little bit of uncertainty, some clarity around certain offerings would probably be appreciated by many long time customers and close followers of US Mint products.

Today, the United States Mint has published updated pricing for the 2012 Proof Silver Eagle. The price reflects a reduction from the previously published amount.

On January 6, 2012, the Mint had published a price of $61.95. The price published today is $59.95. Oddly, the market price of silver has risen during this period, from $29.40 (January 6) to $32.69 (today).

Last year, the 2011 Proof Silver Eagle had its price adjusted on two occasions. For the start of sales on June 30, 2011 it was $59.95. This was increased to $68.45, and then decreased to $58.95, which remained in effect until the coins sold out on November 22, 2011.

The 2012 Proof Silver Eagle is scheduled to go on sale April 12, 2012.

Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars

As a reminder, the introductory pricing period for the 2012 Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars is scheduled to conclude on Monday, March 19, 2012 at 5:00 PM ET.

After that point, the prices will increase from $44.95 to $49.95 for the uncirculated version and from $49.95 to $54.95 for the proof version.

Oddly (again), the Defenders of Freedom Set will apparently not have its price changed. This product, which includes the proof version of the Infantry Silver Dollar along with a replica dog tag on a miniature chain, is priced at $51.95. That means that this special product will have a lower price than the standard individually packaged proof coin.

As of the last sales report, the Defenders of Freedom Set had reached sales of 40,420 out of the 50,000 maximum. The favorable pricing will likely hasten the eventual sell out.

The overall mintage limit for the Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars is 350,000. Combined sales have reached 149,062, representing 42.59% of the limit.