Welcome to Something About Coins! The U.S. Mint showed off their latest coin design for the upcoming 2011 Native American Sacagawea dollar. The Royal Canadian Mint is getting close to running out of their 2010 Crystal Snowflake silver coins, and Lincoln's First Spouse Gold Coin launches on Thursday this week. Other topics in today's coin blog include the Perth Mint's silver coin sales, American Eagle silver bullion coin sales, and grade rarities. Enjoy!
2011 Native American Dollar Coin Design Revealed by Mint, CoinNews.net
The United States Mint on Friday pulled away the curtains and revealed next year's 2011 Native American Dollar coin design. The reverse or tails side of the Native American $1 coin has changed annually since 2009 as mandated by the Native American $1 Coin Act (Public Law 110-82). Each year celebrates a unique historic contribution made by Indian tribes or individual Native Americans to the history and development of the United States. The theme of the 2011 Native American Dollar design is Diplomacy — Treaties with Tribal Nations ... Click for coin article
Canadian 2010 Crystal Snowflake Silver Coins Near Sell Out, SilverCoinsToday.com
Two recently released 99.99% pure silver coins featuring a unique crystal snowflake design are almost sold out, the Royal Canadian Mint advised customers late last week. Sales of the Mint's $20 Blue Crystal Snowflake and $20 Tanzanite Crystal Snowflake have each passed 90% of their maximum mintage, which is 15,000 across both options. The two silver coins were released by the Royal Canadian Mint in October along with its other final 2010 issues. The silver coins feature "intricately engraved snowflakes encrusted with CRYSTALLIZED™ Swarovski Elements," ... Click for coin article
Mary Todd Lincoln First Spouse Gold Coin Availability, CoinCollectingNews.org
The final 2010 coin in the First Spouse Gold Coin Program, struck in honor of Mary Todd Lincoln, will be available at noon Eastern Time (ET) on December 2. The one-half ounce 24-karat gold coin is produced at the United States Mint at West Point in proof and uncirculated qualities. Pricing for the coins will be based on the United States Mint's pricing structure for precious metals products. For current pricing information, visit http://usmint.gov. Bronze medals that bear a likeness of the gold coin will be available for $5.50 each ... Click for coin article
Silver Sales to Jump as Demand Gains, Perth Mint Says, Bloomberg.com
Silver-coin sales will climb as investors seek to protect their wealth from weakening currencies, according to the Perth Mint, producer of about 6 percent of the world's gold bullion. "There seems to be more upside with silver than gold right now," said Ron Currie, sales and marketing director. The mint, founded in 1899, also wants to sell more gold to China even as it scales back production rates from the peak levels seen last year after the 2008 financial crisis, Currie said. The mint's outlook adds to signs that global demand for silver, which trades for about ... Click for coin article
Another Record Year for U.S. American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin Sales, silverinstitute.org
Global silver coin minting expected to post all-time record. The American Eagle Silver Bullion coinage program has already posted another record year, with over 32 million of the U.S. Mint's 1-ounce coins sold through today. Sales thus far in 2010 have surpassed last year's record of 28 million coins sold. Should the current pace continue, sales will surpass 35 million coins by year's end. Silver coin minting globally is projected to rise a robust 23 percent this year, to an all-time record, according to data released last week by GFMS Ltd., the precious ... Click for coin article
Grade Rarities, coins.about.com
Over the last decade or so, a very curious type of "rare coin" has become increasingly popular - the so-called "grade rarity." The traditional rare coin is considered to be "rare" because it has a low mintage, or very few specimens of the total mintage have survived. The grade rarity, however, derives its value from the fact that very few coins have been graded in that grade. When the major grading services began publishing breakdowns of the number of specimens that had been graded in each general grade category (i.e. MS-67 or EF-45), collectors became ... Click for coin article
Thanks for reading!
