2009 American Samoa Quarters enjoy the distinction of having the lowest mintages of any quarter for many, many years, new US Mint production figures released Monday reveal. Coin collectors will revel in the news, making the territories’ quarter products ever more desirable.
2009 Quarter Mintage Figures
| 2009 Quarters |
Denver
|
Philadelphia
|
Total
|
| District of Columbia | 88,800,000 | 83,600,000 | 172,400,000 |
| Puerto Rico | 86,000,000 | 53,000,000 | 139,200,000 |
| Guam | 42,600,000 | 45,000,000 | 87,600,000 |
| American Samoa | 39,600,000 | 42,600,000 | 82,200,000 |
| U.S. Virgin Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Mariana Islands | 0 | 0 | 0 |
|
2009 Total Quarter Production: 481,400,000
|
|||
Surprisingly, the figures are not as low as perhaps expected. They nearly mirror the extremely low Guam levels. 82,200,000 American Samoa quarters were produced, with 42.6 million of those struck in Philadelphia and 39.6 million at Denver.
That accounts for nearly 94 percent of the Guam production. But for the starkest contrast, it represents just 47.7 percent of the mintage totals for the District of Columbia quarter. And comparing the total against any single state quarter is laughable.
It is worth mentioning that the US Mint will release six quarters this year as part of the 2009 DC and US Territories Program. During the ten year 50 State Quarters® Program, only five quarters were issued per year. As such, an apple-to-apple comparison should not be made. Excluding demand factors, it is natural for specific 2009 quarter mintages to be lower than any single state quarter. Clearly, however, demand for new circulating quarters has plunged.
Should the two quarters yet to be issued hold steady at the current production pace, the 2009 quarter tally will fall below 646 million quarters for the entire year. Placing that figure into perspective, several individual 50 State Quarters had a higher mintage. (See state quarter-dollar figures.)
But the real quandary for collectors is predicting future demand. With signals that the US economy is showing signs of recovery, demand for circulating change is bound to rise. Will the American Samoa quarter mark the very lowest point in quarters production for years to come? It is at least possible. Then again, the real corner may yet to be turned, and the US Virgin Islands quarters could prove to be scarcest.
American Samoa quarters are still being minted till the end of August, they will surely surpass the very very low mintage figures of the Guam quarters, which they have almost already matched….Guam quarters are the real sleeper rarity here.
Paul, while it is possible the Mint may strike more American Samoa quarters, of late the practice has been not to release quarter production figures unless they are finalized. As an example, the Mint posted Guam mintages on June 2 and they remained unchanged to this day. The same is true for Puerto Rico quarters months before…
But… you never know for sure. 🙂 The Mint had said it would halt nickel and dime production for 2009 back in April. Yet nickel production figures from Denver increased recently.
Beware of the US Mint, they ALSO, release more coinage through the Federal Reserve to “enhance” the mintage figures after the fact.
Another thought, The Strategic Coin Reserve may also release coins that have just been sitting, regardless of mintage figures.