Louisa Adams First Spouse Gold – Initial Sales Figures


The latest coin in the First Spouse Gold Series honoring Louisa Adams went on sale May 29, 2008. After two weeks of statistics reported, the initial sales figures are tracking even lower than the previous coin in the series.

The Louisa Adams First Spouse coin has sold 2,986 proof coins and 1,696 uncirculated coins as of June 12, 2008. This makes the total across both ordering options 4,682 coins or 11.7% of the maximum authorized mintage of 40,000 coins.

For comparison purposes, the previous release of the series for Elizabeth Monroe sold 7,768 coins (or 19.4% of maximum) in roughly the first two weeks of release (sales figures from February 28, 2008 to March 13, 2008).

Figures come from Numismaster Mint Stats.

Another decline in sales was widely expected as the First Spouse Gold series continues to lose steam. Reasons for the decline have been discussed in other posts, but to summarize:

  • the tendency for the popularity of a series to decline over time
  • the relatively high price premiums above the gold content value
  • the one coin per household ordering limit
  • the under performance of earlier coins on the secondary market

One potential bright side the declining sales is that if some issues of the series have low enough final mintages, they could potentially rise in value on the secondary market due to their rarity. The key question is how long can the US Mint continue to sell each issue before officially ending sales? I have seen the question discussed, but can’t seem to find an official answer.

Does anyone know or have any insights?

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Comments

  1. Anonymous says

    I read somewhere that the Mint plans to offer the First Spouse coins for sale up to one year after their release. By that reckoning, my guess is that any remaining Dolley Madison coins will be taken off sale the day that the Martin Van Buren’s Liberty coins go on sale.

    The Mint must not plan on selling all 20,000 Dolley Madison coins, since my Louisa Adams coins came in sleeves with the Dolley Madison product codes and barcodes printed on them. The Mint had simply applied a sticker with the Louisa Adams product code and barcode over the pre-printed one. I don’t know how many of the Louisa Adams coins were shipped like that, but it kind of made me mad when I saw what they had done. Stickers eventually rot and fall off, and that will leave me with Louisa Adams coins with Dolley Madison sleeves. All because they printed up too many Dolley Sleeves and were too cheap or lazy to print some for Louisa. Sigh.

    As for Andrew Jackson’s Liberty, I went ahead and placed my order on August 28th, just in case they might sell quickly. I found out per Numismatic News Mint Statistics that the coins are not moving any faster than the other 2008 issues. So that, combined with the still-declining price of gold, prompted me to cancel my order. Although it is much more rare than price increases, I have seen the U.S. Mint actually reduce product prices in declining market value scenarios. Maybe I can get the coins later for a more resonable premium than what the current price amounts to. I want the coins pretty bad, but I also hate to be ripped off.

  2. Anonymous says

    Well, it looks like the Mint was true to their word on this one. The EXACT minute that the Martin Van Buren’s Liberty gold coins went on sale, both Dolley Madison coins were taken off sale. I don’t know if anyone really cares at this point, but she is obviously the key to the 2007 First Spouse coins now, especially the Uncirculated version. At last report, sales of that coin had not even reached 13,000 yet.

    It is not significant in the immediate present, but at least it will make a difference later on.

  3. Michael says

    Thanks for the comments Anonymous and everyone else.

    I have been away for a short vacation, but will be back with some posts on all of the recent developments tomorrow.

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