US Mint Sales: Birth Sets, Buffalo Gold Debuts Fail to Ignite Overall Interest

Two new products debuted on the U.S. Mint’s lineup last week but they failed to spark any significant buying across other offerings according to the latest sales stats from the bureau. 24 numismatic products outperformed their previous weekly sales as compared to the 48 noted in the prior sales report.

As one of the Mint’s debuting products was composed of more expensive gold and the other designed singularly for newborns, it makes sense that overall sales were weaker compared to the previous week when the Star-Spangled Banner commemorative coins made their first sales appearance.

2012 Birth Sets with their newborn baby theme and five proof coins debuted with seven-day sales of 5,670. That placed it in the third spot for top U.S. Mint numismatic sellers.

2012-W $50 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coins opened with sales of 4,110 in five days, marking the slowest start for the one-ounce, 24 karat gold coin since the series was introduced in 2006. The level was still high enough to place the coin in position five of the best-sellers.

U.S. Mint Top Numismatic Products of the Week

1. Star-Spangled Banner Silver Dollar Proof (+15,597 to 60,076)
2. Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar Proof (+6,563 to 82,017)
3. 2012 Birth Set (+5,670)
4. Star-Spangled Banner Silver Dollar Uncirculated (+5,363 to 24,126)
5. 2012 Proof Gold Buffalo (+4,110)
6. 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle (+3,776 to 277,955)
7. 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set (+3,246 to 93,818)
8. Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar Defenders of Freedom Set (+3,026 to 43,446)
9. Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar Uncirculated (+2,402 to 35,590)
10. 2011 Proof Set (+1,921 to 1,070,222)

2012 commemorative coins remain interesting to collectors, although the buying intensity has finally lessened for Infantry Soldier Silver Dollars after several solid weekly performances. Their latest sales went up 11,991 as a group as compared to the previous 33,148. The Infantry Soldier Silver Dollar Defenders of Freedom Set is currently at 43,446, or 86.9%, of the authorized 50,000 limit. The introductory pricing period for the Infantry commemorative dollars expired on Monday, which will shape further demand to some, albeit small, degree. While the Defenders of Freedom Set remains at $51.95, the silver dollars each went up $5 — $54.95 for the proof and $49.95 for the uncirculated.

US Mint Sales: Bullion Coins

U.S. Mint bullion products were hotter across the board, supported by generally weaker gold and silver prices which introduced a touch of bargain buying. The following table offers the latest sales figures for U.S. Mint bullion products:

*The as of date for US Mint sales of 1-ounce and under bullion coins is Tuesday, March 20, 2012. These totals are for this year alone. (Check the coin price guide for always updated sales figures.) The as of date for the 5-ounce bullion coins is Monday, March 12, 2012. These totals are for all the coins sold by design, and include sales from 2011.

The following are the latest tallies for US Mint numismatic clad, gold and silver products:

US Mint Sales: Numismatic Products

*NLA – No Longer Available.

The collector coin sales figures above have an "as of date" of March 20, 2012. Visit the CoinNews.net page US Coins or the United States Mint website at http://www.usmint.gov/ for more information on any of the above products.