US Mint Coin Demand Picks Up Slightly, 2009 Bullion Eagles Still Selling

Sales of collector coins from the United States Mint appear to have stopped their three week slide, but not by much. According to their latest report, no new drastic drops are apparent. Unfortunately, also equally missing from that data are significant gains.

While not huge in numbers, the First Spouse Gold Coins saw almost across the board improvement, not that this was hard to do after the previous week’s disappointing sales.

Leading the pack was the Margaret Taylor First Spouse Proofs with a 110 unit increase. The only spouse to show a set back was the Letitia Tyler Uncirculated Coin, declining 11 from the week prior to 9 new sold. You may recall that each of these coins are struck from 1/2 ounce, 24-karat gold. That sets their price points of $729 for the proofs and $716 for the uncirculated coins, which is steep for most casual collectors.

2009-dated American Silver Eagle bullion coins are showing consistent demand with 131,000 sold so far in the month of January. Gold Bullion Eagles came in at 6,000. As a reminder, the 2010-dated versions will not be offered by the US Mint until January 19.

A few other striking items from the weekly sales report:

• Interesting, even with low numbers, are the Presidential $1 Coin Covers. The three versions available (William Henry Harrison, John Tyler and James K. Polk) all saw their sales at least double over the previous week. Topping the list was the Polk Covers which sold 227 units compared to the prior 86.

• The clad 2009 Mint Proof Set saw a dramatic decline over the previous week, losing over 2,300 to bring them in at 8,946 weekly gain. They have, however, reached a reputable 1,412,997 since their introduction on June 1, 2009. Conversely, the 18-coin Silver Proof Set jumped in sales and ended 7,021 higher for the week.

• Uncirculated dollar sets enjoyed admirable gains, with this year’s 2009 Presidential Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set increasing 55.8% over last week to 954 units. The 2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set also increased with 1,221 sold in the week, or a 50.9% rise.

UHR $20 coins are no longer available. They went off sale on Dec. 31. However, the US Mint has not provided updated sales figures. As a result, the total is unchanged from the prior report.

Major coin sales numbers follow:

US Mint Collector Coin Sales

(Data compare previous to current Mint sales reports)

*Sold out or no longer available.

Click here for a full listing of the most recent US Mint sales report.

Notable summaries of sales articles this week from CoinNews and sister sites follow:

• New Year Recovery for First Spouse Gold Coins – FirstSpouseCoins.us
  US First Spouse gold coin sales began the new year with improved figures, the latest United States Mint stats reveal. Eight of the ten gold coins improved, while one was lower and another’s increase was the same as reported last week. Margaret Taylor proofs sped the quickest in this round with 110, and her uncirculated claimed 2nd place at 45 …

• Silver Coins Rise in First 2010 US Mint Sales Report – SilverCoinsToday.com
  The first United States Mint numismatic product sales report in 2010 shows rising demand for silver coins, despite a holiday shortened week. The increases break a three-week trend of softening sales, with the latest levels nearing those that were last seen toward the middle of December …

• 2009 Silver Eagles Set December Milestones – CoinNews.net
  2,773,500 American Silver Eagle Bullion Coins were sold during the final weeks in 2009, according to the latest United States Mint sales data. Last month ranked as the second best December ever for the silver coin series that was introduced in 1986. It was the fourth best month in 2009 — a year that saw a record-breaking 28,766,500 eagles fly out of US Mint inventories …

The collector coin sales figures above have an "as of date" of Jan. 3, 2010. For an always updated reference of the latest articles, visit Mint Sales.