Last week, the United States Mint announced Nov. 17 as the release date for 2016-W Walking Liberty Half Dollar Centennial Gold Coin.
During a Numismatic Forum in Philadelphia on Thursday, Oct. 13, U.S. Mint officials revealed the coin’s mintage of 70,000 and a 3 per household ordering limit.
Its opening price will be based on an average of London gold for the week ended Nov. 16, according to this pricing schedule. Today, it would cost $890 since gold has sat within the $1,250.00 to $1,299.99 range.
Differing Mintages and Limits
The half dollar is the last of three .9999 fine gold coins to celebrate popular designs introduced 100 years ago. The first two are renditions of the 1916 Mercury dime and the 1916 Standing Liberty quarter. They have higher mintages of 125,000 and 100,000 coins.
Their household ordering limits were different as well, with the dime at 10 coins and the quarter initially at 1 coin until that restriction was removed about three weeks into sales.
The gold quarter is available today at catalog.usmint.gov for $472.50, and 78,464 have sold through Oct. 9.
Fate of Remaining Gold Mercury Dimes
The gold dime launched at $205 and went off sale within an hour of its release. After order reconciliations and cancellations, the U.S. Mint has its total at 116,095 coins.
Mint officials have yet to decide the fate of the remaining 8,000+ dimes. They have kicked around possibilities — to include melting them, resuming sales, and bundling them with other products.
When will the U.S. Mint learn that collectors want consistency. This much-anticipated gold centennial coin program has been handled badly by Mint management for sure! Different mintages & different household limits for the 3 different coins. And they are thinking of melting almost 9,000 pure gold coins & special custom wooden boxes! What a foolish waste of money if they do that. But, Jeppson can’t make “tough” decisions like this almost 6 months after the gold Winged Liberty Head dime was offered & didn’t sell out. Sad situation. The Philadelphia Pow-Wow was awkward at best according to my CCAC source.… Read more »
Mike Unser –
The U.S. Mint released the mintage & household limits on this coin on Wednesday Oct. 12, one day before the Oct. 13 Philadelphia Numismatic Forum. This information was published by other numismatic publications 2 days ago. Tom Jurkowsky confirmed this information to the numismatic press on Oct. 12.
Maybe you missed getting the info. traveling to Philadelphia.
-NumisDudeTX
70,000 is a good #. Should sell out quick with 3 per household. I don’t like the idea of bundling 8000+ gold dimes.
The mint just doesn’t seem to ‘get it’ on the number per order! This series of coins was VERY poorly managed.
Ok, here is my opinion…not that it means a damn thing. I think the Mint has made great errors with regards to the limits and mintage of these 3 coins. Although they are not a “set”, the collectors I believe regard these 3 as a “set or series”. Therefore I think there should have been a same mintage amount and household limit on the 3 coins. Simple right? Here’s the deal though. The Mint is in the business to make money. They don’t care about the coin collectors, or second market sales of anything or what value any coin may… Read more »
I think the mint is trying to juggle things to balance the interests of collectors and businesses while also maximizing profits for the government. Unfortunately that’s not really possible to do. I think they would have been better off by doing something like selling the three coins as a set right off the bat for x number of sets. Then the balance sold individually. Household limit could have been put at 1 with a max set count of 35,000 or something. Then have 65,000 of each coin available individually. But it’s always easy to play monday quarterback. Hopefully I’ll be… Read more »
JP? Everybody’s opinion means something. This is a family here, And we should work together with one another..
Are those spots I see on liberty’s leg and on the eagle’s wing in the photo?
Joe C. –
The photo above is only a computer mock-up version of the coin. The U.S. Mint gave Coin World newspaper (coinworld.com) exclusive access to the West Point Mint to photograph this gold half dollar coin & only they have the actual photos. If you want to see the real photo, just go to coinworld.com to see this beautiful centennial coin.
-NumisDudeTX
Thanks Seth,
You would think for a computer mock-up they would remove the spots. Just a thought.
Jp – I agree with your summary. I wasn’t complaining per se, because I got the coins I needed (3 gold dimes & 3 gold quarters for me & my two older nephews), but due to the higher price of the half dollar gold coin, I will only order one for my collection if the computer doesn’t act up on first day of issue. One other thing that made this centennial gold coin program a “problem” for the Mint is that it was not the product of congressional legislation (Public Law) & they therefore had no guidelines as to mintages… Read more »
Neil, JP, Seth,
The idea of a set for the three was a good one since they do that for the gold eagles. The balance sold separately was good too. What I do not like are “sets” that have a different mintage over a period of years and you do not have the chance to get them from the mint, i.e. platinum two year set 2015-2016.
As to Federal Law–this has not stopped the mint from selling more then was authorized.
What we need is “common sense”!
chuck –
Amen brother! Common sense & consistency is all I ask for from the largest Mint in the world. I love these 3 centennial gold coins & I only hope I can complete the set with the gold WL half dollar (my favorite design of the three 1916 original silver coins). At this point in the year I can only afford one of these at an estimate of $890 each. How many are you ladies & gentleman planning on ordering if you don’t mind my asking?
-NumisDudeTX
Joe#2 I feel the same way.
Seth, So you bit the bullet and went for 3 of each so far? I backed off on these . I bought only 2 of the dimes and 1 quarter and am struggling to make myself buy another quarter. I even waited for the price to drop, but I still can’t seem to put my order in… I agree, the Walker is THE one to get. The price makes me feel like I’m dealing with the RCM. And you know how I feel about the RCM’s prices! I will most definitely order 1, probably get 2… of course then I… Read more »
It is what it is. I really don’t expect anything to go right for the collector any more. Not from the good ole US MINT.
Agree with you all on this one.
Sorry I have not been able to post sine I upgraded to windows 10. This should have been sold as a set and individualy with the same mintages and household limits!
Jp – You must have read my mind on the subject of the RCM prices! I admit I am a RCM Masters Club Platinum level member, but the past 2 months or so they have offered us their newest coins & have raised the prices & raised the mintages! I will now only buy the exclusive Masters Club coins with low mintage (4,000 to 6,000 mintage limit). They had a great website, but screwed with it recently & I don’t care for it so much (they “lost” my entire wish list in the process & like a fool I hadn’t… Read more »
I think that all new releases from the US mint with limited mintage’s should have a household limit of 1 for the first week. Let the true coin collectors have a chance get the new coin then increase it for the flippers and dealers. This could potentially lower each coins final mintage because many of the coins would be in firm hands before the flippers and dealers get a chance to buy in bulk. If they do buy in bulk a week after sales open they will only be able to sell to the uninformed collectors like those that buy… Read more »
Seth,
Might try to buy one.
I think it is important to remain focused. Not every release from any mint will yield profit or enjoyment to all. If you want to profit from any numismatic coin than spend the money.I am a fan of any coin release that will spark the interest of new collectors. I have purchased many coins that were of interest to my son as part of his growing collection. Coins that I would not put into my collection, but as it is not my collection, my little man has choice. I will not discourage his views or passion for a design. It… Read more »
This might be a close race. It looks like the mintage limit and HHL might make it a 50/50 chance on getting this coin as a collector who is buying to keep and enjoy the coins beauty. I plan on putting my order in as soon as the site allows. I’ll buy a coin if I can place the order with the US Mint but I’ll pass on this coin if I need to buy it from a collector at $500 over US. Mint price.
T
It always seems that they offer coins collectors are truely interrested in right before a holiday when people are traveling, or is it just my imagination?
Here is a question/thought to all; When you look at the amount of a mintage’s coin (from the modern gold commemorative coins,) the resale/premium value in the secondary market does not always coincide with a higher (or lower) mintage with what the coin is actually selling for. So it’s hard to say if even this series of (1916-2016) gold coins will become a good investment opportunity. I do think that mintage’s of 70k -100k -125k are way to high to make for a solid investment, but more of a collectable coin you may personally like. You have to collect the… Read more »
I purchased 2 each of the gold dime and gold quarter and plan to get 2 of the gold half dollar also. After all it’s only money, you can’t take it with you.
Carl,
You are so right. Sooner or later everything you have will be passed on down to someone else. So keep smiling and enjoy what you have while you can.
Hopefully when passed down these 100th Anniv. coins will be worht more than melt, maybe not if gold flies…. but in all liklihood, as the boomer collectors quit, sell, etc. there will be few to pick up the mantle, there is no connection for GenX & WLH or Milenialls & SLQ’s they don’t care about coins in general & prefer electronic payment methods. In the FUTURE coins will be gone, so will paper money……my kids understand coins but noly ask if you cuold really spend a TR Puck for 25c…….maybe….you should see the kids run to the manager when I… Read more »
Jp – The grading services offer dealers who submit lots of coins “special, exclusive labels” that can have anything on them – words or color graphics (pictures etc.). The dealers are charged a little extra per coin slab label for this service. I have seen “The Vault Collection” label coins on one of those ripoff tv coin shopping shows. It means nothing – just a marketing gimmick to try to fool uneducated buyers. You are right about gold $5 commemorate coins prices & mintages – there are a few with mintages under 10,000 that can be purchased for $400 or… Read more »
Seth and All Hope all is well with everyone, well the wait is over and now we just have to get our WL Halves , if the mints system doesn’t fail, Seth , I am going to try and order 3, but I will be lucky if I get one ,maybe with the price being that high on gold, it might do the same as the Quarter and surprise us all, that’s a lot of money, and that is a lot of money for the flippers to tie up pending the sales, I hope goes in all of our Favors… Read more »
Whistler – You are so right. I just read an article about many stores in the Netherlands that are no longer accepting coins or paper money. They are tired of each cashier having to count each coin & note at the beginning & end of each shift & the manager having to do the same & audit the cash at closing time & take the cash to the bank or have an armored truck service take it to the bank which all adds to the operating cost of a store. Cashless society is on its way. I use cash once… Read more »
Whistler, Seth
Wonder how they and we will feel when/ if their and our electronic payment systems are “hacked”? There is no doubt in my mind that they (governments) want to control the “money” and therefore know what we have. Money after all is only what someone else accepts from you for what you are receiving from them. Perhaps, we will all, soon be on an allowance.
chuck – Very good point! Every computer system can be hacked by someone or some group or some government. Even our most secret USA agency the NSA has been hacked! My father worked with the NSA in the 70s as part of the USAF Intelligence Command & he retired in 1982 & when the public Internet started in the early 90s (it started earlier as a US government project only) he told me that he didn’t trust computers. I told him they would be safe – boy was I wrong! charles – I too hope we can all get our… Read more »
Carl,
You might be getting better “money” in return (even if each coin is only supposed to be “worth” $.50) and will cost likely over $800 each in the other “money” now. The Government charges $149.95 for the 5 oz ATB quarter so how much money is it really?
It was interesting that I tried to use a gift card from a national store chain at one of their stores recently and they said they were only accepting cash that day. Thus, their card was not money.
Seth,
Read sometime back that Russia was using the old typewriter (even the one before the tape) to keep in touch. Likely many wish they had not used email.
chuck –
Interesting! I took a typing class in high school using the old typewriter & later that year we got the IBM electric ones. Who would have thought that today the “safest” method of communication is a hand-written or typewriter-written letter sent by snail mail in the USPS! Strange times we live in for sure.
-NumisDudeTX
Seth, Thanks for the info on the “Special Labels”. I assume these coins are still legit though? As for a cashless society, I’m not for that. I agree with you gents re the Gov. knowing too much of what you have/or have not. Also the fact EVERYTHING seems to be able to be hacked today. Technology has been very good but also it has been detrimental in some ways. Just think about it. I don’t use as much cash as I used to. I think I’m nearly the only one on the planet that uses checks! REALLY. I recently used… Read more »
Jp –
The coins are legit if in a PCGS, NGC or ANACS slab (as long as it hasn’t been tampered with), but I wouldn’t advise paying a premium for a “special, exclusive label” being that the only thing on the label that really matters is the grade – the rest is just a marketing scheme IMHO.
-NumisDudeTX
Seth,
Thanks again. Yes I’ve been looking locally at a 2000 Library of Congress Bi-Metal in a “US Vault Collection” brown NGC label (slabbed). This is one of those low mintage , but high priced coins. Not sure I want to go there.
I think I’m still feeling the sting from those colored RCM leaf coins from a couple months back.
I’m not getting any more of those colorized coins again. Mistake!
Seth, you left out IGC gradeing service. They been around since 1998. They have very good graders from NGC, PCGS, & ANACS. No fancy labels.
Jp – The 2000 ringed bimetallic gold & platinum $10 Library of Congress commemorative coin is one I still regret not buying. I loved the design but was in between full-time jobs training for the Texas licensed insurance state board exam in full-time classes at the time it was issued & didn’t think I should spend the money to get one. As the only ringed bimetallic coin the US Mint has ever produced, it is on my wish list! The Uncirculated version has a low mintage of 7,261 & the Proof version 27,445. They are worth about $2000 in MS-69… Read more »
I wish that when the mint did the gold version of these classics that it have made the mercury a $10, standing liberty $25, and the new walking liberty $50 denominations
Since the mint has not made this an option, I am planning to make up my own 3 coin set. Not sure what will be available through the suppliers.
Well boys, seems as if we all see the writing on the wall, I am becoming an old codger, I have NEVER used an debut card, I do not have an Iphone, I do not use bill pay, I spend ca$h every day, pay with $2bills & 50c halves to watch the faces of the cashiers…..one day when paper $ is gone, gold & silver wil have some value, alot, a little or none ala the Twilight Zone gold heist stroyline..the Mint is killing the golden geese, us collectors, but being the crackcoinheads we are we usually go ahead &… Read more »
ugh…DEBIT cad and of course I ment>>> IRS….the Fed$
One additional point. When the mint has a household limit of one it makes it impossible to receive the “Early Release” grade designation on additional purchases due to time required to receive and mail (longer than 30 days). This is why you will not see a quick sellout and coins remain unsold on coins previously issued this way. The secondary market is key to the future of our coin hobby and should not be ignored or taken lightly.
RBG,
Early release and first day of issue are a scam put on by the grading companies. Six months from now you might buy a coin from the mint that was one of the first ones struck. You have no way of telling.
How is it a scam if the label clearly states “Early Release” or “Issue”? It is within 30 days of issue and not mintage. If the labels would say Early Mintage or First day of mintage it would be untrue, but they do not. The market has made these Early Release graded coins a bit of a premium. This adds a bit of fun to collecting!
RBG,
I noticed you used the word “issue”. I stated “first day of issue” which is truly misleading. As has been stated before, “buy the coin, not the label”.
But, RBG, to each his own. Happy collecting to you.
Buy the coin. But trust the grade (not the label) only to NGC or PCGS. Too many taken by overpaying. Grade matters, especially on older coins.
Household limit 3 Walking Liberty @ $890 each…..TOTAL $2,670 + S/H…..
How many collectors can afford that !!??
Answer: NOT MANY
Would like to see someone come out with a “plastic holder” for the collector who can afford one (1) of each coin !!
Jack,
Would like to see a holder that would house all three of them.
Looks like the price of this coin was increased back to original issue price of $890 today (011417). Yesterday it was $815 ….so was the Standing Liberty. FYI