First-day sales of the six different 2018 Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coins combined to 37,778, according to United States Mint spokesman Michael White.
Released Thursday, available options include $5 pink gold coins — a first for the U.S. Mint, silver dollars and clad half-dollars in collector qualities of proof and uncirculated.
Each of the pinks gold coins originally had an order limit of 1 per household. The Mint lifted those restrictions on Friday.
Here’s a table summarizing the sales by coin:
| First-Day Sales of Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative Coins | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEBUT PRICES | % OF LIMITS SOLD | INDIVIDUAL SALES (COINS) | INDIVIDUAL SALES ($) | |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Proof Silver Dollar | $51.95 |
4.5% |
12,479 | $648,284.05 |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Uncirculated Silver Dollar | $48.95 | 5,478 | $268,148.10 | |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Proof Clad Half Dollar | $27.95 | 1.8% (13,529 of 750,000) |
8,435 | $235,758.25 |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Uncirculated Clad Half Dollar | $25.95 | 5,094 | $132,189.30 | |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Proof Gold $5 Coin | $431.00 | 12.6% (6,292 of 50,000) |
4,176 | $1,799,856.00 |
| Breast Cancer Awareness Uncirculated Gold $5 Coin | $421.00 | 2,116 | $890,836.00 | |
| TOTALS | 37,778 | $3,975,071.70 | ||
Ordering
Buy the coins from the U.S. Mint’s online page for commemorative products. Orders are also accepted by telephone at 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468)
CoinNews will publish photos of the coins next week.
Yikes pretty dismal
Dan, True, but that’s if you just look at it out of context. If on the other hand one remembers to take into account that since the U.S. Mint practically GIVES away the millions of silver, platinum, palladium and gold coins it distributes through its network of so-called “authorized dealers”, one realizes full well that something ELSE at the Mint – other than the ever more costly to produce and thus gradually less profitable circulation coinage it sells to the Federal Reserve – has to carry more than its share of the profit-making weight, and that just so happens to… Read more »
OMG!
These low sales numbers are an absolute disaster. Doesn’t look like the BCRF charity will get a payout under the two specific terms of the BCA coin program public law provisions if this is the reflection of first day of issue & going forward. And, this is during the reduced price 30-day introductory pricing period too. Sad!
Please make a separate donation to BCRF, if you are so inclined, as they are a worthy charity IMHO & had such high hopes for getting surcharges from the Mint but probably will not with these early very low sales numbers.
-NumisdudeTX
Holy smokes folks, I did not think the sales numbers were going to be that low / definitely low but not that low. I wish mints would learn for the other mints / Jewelry coins do not sell.
The only plus for collectors is the hope that sales stay very low thus keeping the populations of graded coins low.
What a shame / such a worthy cause and they will not receive a cent / what a poor marketing strategy.
Mouse
Thanks Mike & crew!
UNBELEIVABLELY DISMAL – Such a shame! Very unfortunate
The mint paid extra for all the $5 gold planchettes, think about all the waste.
Dealer’s are/may likely to steer clear of this one for grading and resale if there’s no secondary market, after seeing these #’s.
We’ll know come Tuesday if there was a pop in sales with the removal of the HHL, if not, this release is over.
The 12,479 for the Proof Silver is mind blowing
Seth, Mouse, KC&SO & Dan, To be fair, there are two entirely different and separate issues at play here by way of what is so powerfully impeding sales and clearly preventing them from getting any serious traction. One is the number of coins of each kind authorized to be minted; it was set incredibly high, and when there is that huge a size of a coin pool a reluctance to become part of a mass purchase with likely no future value in it is not at all surprising. Secondly, for a 85% gold, 90% silver silver and all-clad coins the… Read more »
Old Collector: I find the mintage of the rose gold coins 50,000 to be low. Many world mints have set some bullion silver and gold at that number and they have sold like hot cakes lol sold out fast. Selling a coin below 9999 gold is tough at best. If they would have just added a rose gold touch to a 9999 gold coin to ensure the buyers investment / I believe they would have had higher sales / possibility of money going to such a worthy cause. Modern coins are tough to sell / so much international competition out… Read more »
Mouse, Considering the Mint has only been able to find buyers for 6,292 of the 50K gold coins on what should have been the best sales day of their entire run, I’m thinking that in this case 50K was far too high a number after all. With the gold content of those at 85% and the prices set at $431prf and $421unc, a limit of 20K would have been more advisable, but I highly doubt the Mint will even reach that level. As far as those 90% silver dollars at 26.73 grams each, they consist of just 24/31 troy ounce… Read more »
Old Collector – the only plus about these coins is the low sales. Anyone who owns one needs to keep them well cared for and safe for 50-100 years. Low sales – low population. The coins have a beautiful design and will have future rarity. Maybe the next generation will value them more. Time will tell, and I believe it will be a long term winner…very long term lol
Mouse
Spring has sprung (almost) – where are all of the collectors of pretty butterflies? You get one on each side of these coins!
Happy collecting everyone!
& Happy St. Patrick’s Day!
-NumisdudeTX
The only way these days to sell gazillions of coins is to announce ridiculously low mintage limits. Then they sell out in 3 minutes, to “flippers”. Announce reasonable limits and no one bothers.
Mouse and Old Collector, You have it right… The collectors want GOLD .9999 The collectors want SILVER .9999 They don’t want it watered down with junk metal and an ounce should be an ounce and a quarter ounce a quarter once, etc. The prices are high for the mintage. I think the Mint has been striking out for some time now. Last year I made the fewest purchases I have made in a long, long time from the mint. This year is looking to be the same. This gold coin should not have been ALL rose gold. IMO there should… Read more »
Mouse,
Obviously a very low population can lend a coin high future value, but if as is the case here the low population is not due to a mint decision but instead a general lack of buyers’ interest, then it essentially becomes more of a gambling-type situation. These coins could end up being priceless or they could becoming totally worthless; it’s all a “time will tell” proposition now.
Old Collector
Seth Riesling,
On both the WWI commemorative Dollar and the Breast Cancer Awareness coins I’m a much bigger fan of the depictions on the reverse of each, the poppies and butterfly respectively, than I am of that on the obverse; I guess I’m just a sucker for such beautifully-portrayed flora and fauna.
Old Collector
Old Collector – When I first saw the design winner for the WWI coin, I too liked the reverse design only. I only bought the Air Service coin & medal set though because I don’t like the obverse design of the $1 coin. My father was in the Air Force the first 20 years of my life & we moved every 3 years so I had to have that set. And, I too really like the large butterfly on the reverse of the BCA coins. On modern world coins, I much prefer animals & plants over people for some strange… Read more »
Jp, I did some calculations regarding the weight and the precious metal percentage of each coin, and then compared those numbers to the spot price for gold and silver. Here is what I came up with for the precious metal value contained within the gold and silver Breast Cancer Awareness coins: Coin Type – $5 gold proof Retail Price – $431 Gold Content – 6.74 gm Gold Weight – .217 troy oz Gold Value – $286 Coin Type – $1 silver proof Retail Price – $51.95 Silver Content – 24.1 gm Silver Weight – .774 troy oz Silver Value –… Read more »
Jp,
There’s an “oops” up above in my final figure of the column. The Silver Value line item of the $1 Silver Proof should read correctly as “$12.69” rather than erroneously as “$14.10.” Sorry about that.
Old Collector (& Mistake Detector)
Old Collector- Now try to figure out the intrinsic value of these copper-nickel clad half dollars that the Mint raised their prices on (& will increase in price by $5 each after the 1-month intro pricing period)!! A young collector on a tight budget might as well go buy a limited mintage 1-ounce .999 or .9999 fine silver bullion coin from any world Mint distributor for about the same price. $25.95 for the Unc. ($30.95 later) & $27.95 for the Proof ($32.95 later) is simply asinine for a clad coin with a mintage limit of 750,000. Plus, the $5 pink… Read more »
Seth Riesling, It’s good to know that I wasn’t the only one who prefers the reverse of both the WWI and BCA coins over the obverse. And that opinion was just the spoken part of my comment in that regard. What I DIDN’T think to mention was that I prefer depictions of animals and plants (and even inanimate objects, for that matter) IN GENERAL on coins as opposed to to those of people. I’m glad you ultimately gave voice to a numismatic preference I had, for whatever reason, been all too reluctant to admit to! I quite frankly didn’t have… Read more »
Howdy all,
After reading the crazy premiums on these coins, welcome to my mints world (RCM) lol Heavy premiums added to each coin. Don’t get me wrong, I love my mint but have not purchased a proof coin from them in over a year and have no plans to.
The international market is strong with choice. When it comes to the price of these coins, I am with you Seth. Young collectors can buy a beautiful bullion coin at a fraction of the cost and have security in their investment.
Mouse
Mouse,
Isn’t there a major Catch-22 involved here in that while on the one hand a collector-grade coin is indeed a heck of a lot more expensive, on the other hand the much cheaper bullion coin version doesn’t come anywhere near to being collector-grade? It certainly appears to me that it boils down to one of those situations where one is inevitably of caught between a really big rock and a very hard place.
Old Collector
Old Collector – You are right with most bullion coins compared to proof for them being collectible. There are many bullion coins that do fall into the collectible market as well as bullion markets. Premiums have gone through the roof lol here are some examples: – 2008 Buffalo gold bullion – Gold and silver Perth mint 2017 Swan’s (first series) bullion – Perth Kooks, bullion – China mint, Panda bullion – Vintage silver bars ect… Never underestimate the security of bullion or the ability for some to increase in value at a rapid rate / increased premium. The market expects… Read more »
Mouse, O.k., now I finally understand what you’re saying. It is that mints have done much to improve the quality of their precious metal bullion coins but on the other hand have done very little – with a few rare exceptions – if anything to improve, that is increase, the precious metal content of their collector-quality coins. Therefore, unless and until the mints begin to change their attitude and subsequent ways in regard to the intrinsic value of the output of their specifically numismatic departments, those very proof and uncirculated divisions will have no choice but to continue to play… Read more »
Old Collector – That be the truth. Modern proof coins have been tanking in the market for years, this coin being a prime example. All major world mints have developed their bullion departments to feed this need. I rarely purchase proof coins anymore. To much choice in bullion and security with my investments. I will always love the balance between art and currency and purchase coins that make me happy / some proof. Not every coin is designed to be a winning long term investment, we collect what makes us happy. As a numismatist, historical coins and those that may… Read more »
Mouse, You are so right; there is room in a collector’s world for both bullion and proof, and which we prefer to acquire at any given moment depends both on the quality and the value of the item in question. For example, I am aware that the standard annually-issued U.S. Mint proof set is not (except for the occasional out of the ordinary example like the 2012 low mintage issue) an investor’s favorite, but I sure do like the way it looks and for that reason only it has become a regular purchase for me. On the other hand, as… Read more »
When i first read that this *first of its kind *pink hue gold coin was going to be *minted by the *U*S*Mint, *i asked a ? for the reason of 85% gold, 14.8%copper, & .2%zinc, content! My *thinking for this combo of metals being used for this *pink hue *gold coin, was the only way to get that color*combo, by using those metal ingredients. The reason why i ask, is that it looks much like a brand*new copper*penny from 1982 & before, when you held them out in the sun with a hand full of new & old penny*s, the… Read more »
I’ve copied and pasted my prediction from back in mid-February. Jeffrey R February 16, 2018 at 3:45 pm Here are my predictions for the Breast Cancer Awareness gold coins. While hope springs eternal with collectors for sell outs and flipability(made that one up), past experience over the last few years dictates reality. Gold Proof 16-18K Gold Unc 5.5-6.5K With a Mintage Limit of 50,000 for both collectively. A sellout is not in the cards. The best selling gold over the last five Commemorative issues was 2015 Marshals at 24,916 proof and 6,674 unc. These last few years the legs seem… Read more »
Joe – the metal mixture is the only way to get the desired color the mint was looking for.
Mouse
Joe Brown, According to what I was able to discern from further online research, the Mint had to put a MINIMUM of 85% of copper into their pink $5 pieces to achieve that hue; in fact, it is apparently not uncommon to include up to 25% copper to in order to achieve that pink color. Ironically however, if the Mint were to want to make a GREEN gold coin, the “additive” element would instead of the base substance copper be (pure, fine, 99.99) precious metal silver, thus resulting in a higher value finished item as a result. It does appear… Read more »
Mouse,
Exactly as you said it!
P.S. – You’re always on the ball! 🙂
Old Collector
Jeffrey R,
Good calls there; very impressive!
As to your considered opinion that the MS/PF70 grade coins might possibly be the only self-sustaining products in this regard down the line, it’s rather unfortunate if that indeed has to be the case; it would be really nice if coins like this were considered desirable enough to be worthy collectibles just coming “as is” from the Mint.
Old Collector (& Optimism Injector)
This first pink/rose gold coin by the U.S. Mint is basically based on the famous “Black Hills Gold” of South Dakota jewelry popular for its tri-colors of yellow gold, pink gold & green gold all in one ring or necklace pendant etc. with the difference in colors being the different amounts of gold, silver, copper & sometimes zinc in the finished alloy.
-NumisdudeTX
V. Kurt Bellman,
So once again we’re apparently stuck between a rock and a hard place (which these days is anything but unusual when it comes to Mint-related issues): If the mintage number of any given coin is enticingly low, the fracking flippers will scoop it up and it’ll be a sellout. If on the other hand the mintage number is extraordinarily high, hardly anyone will buy it and it’ll be a dud. What to do, what to do.
All good stuff*! Thanks, for your *answers! *I once, many*many*, early *morning*suns ago, during *mud*tide *clam*digging, dug*up a *green*coin, couldn’t make it out until *i got it *home, & poor’ed what i* could find into a glass mason jar, cement cleaner, drain’o, ammonia, bleach, *i lost one of my 2 brain*cells doing it, but*i sure felt pretty*good,*smile! Then i* drop the *green*coin in the jar, & screwed the cover on tight, jut in case some stray dog or cat got a wiff* of that combo, i* forgot about it, until a month later, because i* hid it under my back… Read more »
Joe Brown –
If you continue to mix ammonia & bleach to clean coins like you did as a kid, you are going to meet G-D sooner than later! LOL
-NumisdudeTX
Seth Riesling & Joe Brown, I’m really getting a kick out of this discussion about how NOT to clean a coin unless you’re eager to meet your Maker pronto. Of course, the idea that a coin should never be cleaned at all in the first place has in the context of this conversation been left so far behind that it has entirely stopped being any part of the issue whatsoever; now it’s all about the basic human survival instinct instead! As Jim Morrison put it so well many decades ago, “Strange days have found us…”. Indeed, they apparently have! Old… Read more »
Sending mine back disappointed with pink hue
Rcvd mine today – dont see any pink-hue. Maybe early coins are unique and they forgot to “add” the hue – making it an “error” collectors coin!
Lonnie V – was it the *pink proof or the *pink unc? & is the pigment to light or dark? btw! after what it did to the grass, & how deep into the soil it went, i* didn’t need to be told twice!*grin.
Lonnie V – Sorry it didn’t work out for you; that IS rather unfortunate and surely disappointing.
Joe Brown – Where you able to squint into that hole in the ground and see kangaroos by any chance?
Old Collector
I agree that the coins are not pink and look like a copper penny.