The release dates and products are shown below. Some of these dates were previously available. I will comment on some of the new listings following.

The release dates for the 2012 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins for El Yunque, Chaco Culture, and Acadia are spaced roughly five weeks apart from one another on March 29, July9, and August 13, 2012. Some collectors had felt that the first ten releases were spaced too closely together, which was caused by the delay of the first 2010-dated release until April 2011. The 2012-dated releases will be closely stacked together, but at least there should be time to issue all five designs within the current year.

Separately, pricing was published for the 2012 ATB Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins at $204.95. This is the same price level currently in effect for the 2011-dated releases which remain available for sale.

The 2012 Star Spangled Banner Bicentennial Silver Dollar Set is scheduled for release on June 1, 2012. US Mint promotional materials described this as a collectible set limited to 50,000 units that will contain a proof 2012 Star Spangled Banner Silver Dollar, a reproduction of one of Francis Scott Key’s original manuscripts of his poem, the lyrics to “The Star Spangled Banner”, a historical narrative about the origin of the poem, and period appropriate original artwork. Pricing has previously been indicated as $53.95, which is actually lower than the current price of the proof silver dollar by itself.

A release date of June 21, 2012 is indicated for the circulating quality 2012-S El Yunque National Forest Quarters. The item listing indicates that these will be offered in bags and rolls. With a mintage of 1.4 million coins, it looks like this will be a fast sell out.

The 2012 American Silver Eagle Uncirculated Coins are scheduled for release on August 2, 2012. As mentioned on a few occasions, the US Mint has indicated plans to release both “W” and “S” mint marked versions for this product. Altogether this will make for five different numismatic versions of the 2012 Silver Eagle (W proof, W uncirculated, S proof, S uncirculated, S reverse proof).

Release dates are still not provided for the 2012 First Spouse Gold Coins.

2012 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Bullion Coins

The United States Mint began accepting orders from authorized purchasers for the bullion version of the 2012 El Yunque Five Ounce Silver Coins on May 21, 2012. The authorized purchasers will resell these coins to the public, generally based on the market price of silver plus a mark up. Some bullion dealers have started accepting orders for the coins with delivery set for early June.

There is no mintage limit or indication of preliminary production provided for the 2012 releases, rather the coins will be “produced to demand.” Release dates are not yet available for the other releases for 2012.

In 2010, the US Mint surprised the collecting public by only issuing 33,000 of each design, with sales beginning in December. This production was about one-fifth the level previously expected. Although the coins were quickly sold to authorized purchasers, distribution to the public was slow. The constraint on the supply combined with the initial frenzied interest led to high prices for the coins which did reach the market.

In 2011, the US Mint dramatically increased the number of bullion coins minted with initial production of 126,700 indicated for each of the five designs. Although the first two designs quickly sold out of this amount, sales fizzled for later releases. The subsequent three designs featuring Olympic National Park, Vicksburg National Military Park, and Chickasaw National Recreation Area did not sell the full initial production. These coins continued to be sold into 2012, even though the authorizing legislation seemed to preclude this. The US Mint has confirmed that sales of the remaining 2011 designs will continue, as sales of the 2012 designs begin.

2012-P America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins

The numismatic versions of the coins contain the “P” mint mark and feature an uncirculated finish. For the past two years, this finish was created through a vapor blasting technique that is also used for bronze medals. As numismatic products, these coins are sold directly by the United States Mint to collectors.

The 2012-P El Yunque Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin will go on sale May 29, 2012. The mintage limit will be 25,000 coins. A preliminary product page does not indicate any household ordering limits and the price is listed as “to be determined”.

The 2010-dated numismatic versions were released after a long delay with a maximum mintage of 27,000 coins per design and initial ordering limit of one per household. Strong demand crashed the US Mint’s website for the Hot Springs release and led to a sell out for each of the five designs.

For the 2011-dated releases, the maximum mintage was raised to 35,000 coins. Collector demand diminished, and all five designs still remain available for sale. The US Mint has confirmed that sales of the 2011-dated coins will continue, as design of the 2012-dated designs begin.

The fact that prices are “to be determined” for the El Yunque release, raises the possibility that prices for the 2011 designs might be adjusted when the pricing is established.

2012 First Spouse Gold Coins

Even though we are already approaching the end of May, the US Mint has still not yet determined release dates or maximum mintage levels for the 2012 First Spouse Gold Coins.

These will feature Suffragist Alice Paul, Frances Cleveland, Caroline Harrison, and Francis Cleveland again. Designs were officially announced about a month ago.

In 2011, the first design for the year was released on May 5. All releases carried a maximum mintage of 15,000 across proof and uncirculated versions. The 2011 First Spouse Coins remain available for sale, with the exception of the proof version of the Julia Grant coin.

2012-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle

The US Mint has confirmed that they will offer the 2012-W Uncirculated American Gold Eagle. This coin is a numismatic version carrying the “W” mint mark and struck on burnished blanks. A release date for the coin has not yet been established, but the Mint expects it to be in the summer.

After a two year hiatus, the US Mint resumed offering the collectible uncirculated version of the Gold Eagle last year. There were no mintage limits, but sales concluded at the relatively low level of 8,822.

While the San Francisco Mint has struck proof versions of the America the Beautiful Quarters, until this point they have never struck circulating quality versions. It has been many years since any circulating quality coins have been struck with an “S” mint mark.

To the best of my recollection, the last time the San Francisco Mint struck circulating quality coins with the “S” mint mark was the 1979-S, 1980-S, and 1981-S Susan B. Anthony Dollars. The first two years were issued for circulation and within the annual mint sets. The final year was included only within mint sets.

The 2012-S ATB Quarters would not be issued for circulation, but only included within numismatic products.

Within an article for Coin Update, I have some quotes from Michael White of the US Mint Office of Public Affairs, which provide some indication of the US Mint’s motivation/intentions for the new products.

We were looking for a new numismatic product with an “S” mark.  Feedback we had received from customers was that there was always great anticipation with products that had the “S” mint mark.

We felt that an “S” mint mark on America the Beautiful Quarters would bring some additional visibility to the program. A business case was developed that supported moving forward with the product. The quarters that will be produced will be circulating quality and sold as numismatic products.

While it remains to be seen how the offering will be received by collectors, so far it seems more interesting and exciting that some of the other types of newly introduced products. Early within the America the Beautiful Quarters Program, the US Mint introduced a slate of “new products” which consisted entirely of the same coins found within existing products, simply remixed or repackaged.

I recently wrote a post exploring some areas where the US Mint has the authority to alter coins or create numismatic products. One of the areas that I mentioned was “Use of Different Mint Facilities or Finishes”.

In response to my inquiries about the new offering, the US Mint indicated that information on the “products/sets” which would include the circulating quality 2012-S America the Beautiful Quarters would provided once the details become available.

An article published in CoinWorld indicates that the coins will be sold within 100-coin bags and 40-coin rolls. The article also indicates a maximum mintage of 1.4 million for each of the five designs. If this is true, the mintage for the given product type seems too small.

Sales for the US Mint’s “P” and “D” mint marked El Yunque National Forest Quarters within bags and rolls have already accounted for 2,386,400 coins. This makes about 1.2 million coins per mint mark. I believe demand for bags and rolls of the “S” mint marked coins would be many times greater, similar to how demand for the Chester Arthur Presidential Dollars within bags and rolls has been multiples of the demand for the previous James Garfield products.

The high demand and limited supply would create the scenario for an instant sell out. This would likely be accompanied by gridlock on the US Mint’s website, complaints from customers who could not place orders, and immediately higher secondary market prices. This seemed to be a scenario the US Mint tries to avoid (because of the complaints), so it is surprising that they would set it up once again.

Going forward, the US Mint has not yet determined whether the production of circulation strike America the Beautiful Quarters at the San Francisco Mint will continue in subsequent years.

Some oddities behind the offering of circulating quality 2012-S America the Beautiful Quarters include the fact that this occurs in the third year of the program. This expands the expected scope of a complete collection and means that some albums will be missing spaces for coins. Also, these uncirculated quarters with the “S” mint mark will not be included in the 2012 Uncirculated Coin Set that just went on sale today. While unusual, there is some precedent for this. The 1999-P and 1999-D Susan B. Anthony Dollars were not included in the annual mint set, but sold within a separate two coin set or bags and distributed for circulation.

The 2012 Mint Set includes uncirculated versions of 14 different coins from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints, for a total of 28 coins. The coins from each mint facility are sealed in separate plastic folders and include:

• 2012 Lincoln Cent
• 2012 Jefferson Nickel
• 2012 Roosevelt Dime
• 2012 America the Beautiful Quarters – featuring El Yunque National Forest, Chaco Culture National Historical Park, Acadia National Park, Hawaii Volcanoes National Park, and Denali National Park and Preserve
• 2012 Kennedy Half Dollar
• 2012 Native American Dollar
• 2012 Presidential Dollars – featuring Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland (first term), Benjamin Harrison, Grover Cleveland (second term)

The sets are priced at $27.95 each. This represents a decrease of $4 compared to the price of the prior year set, which still remains available for sale.

According to the United States Mint, the coins in this set “are struck on special presses using greater force than circulating coins, producing a sharp, intricately detailed image.” While these coins are generally superior to regular circulation strike examples, the major grading services do not make any distinction.

From 2005 to 2010, the US Mint used a “satin finish”, which the grading services did differentiate from the regular circulation strikes.

Although the US Mint adopted a flexible pricing policy for gold and platinum numismatic products, they retained the old method of pricing for silver numismatic products.

Under the old method, prices must be adjusted through a more involved process which involves officially providing notice by publication within the Federal Register. This process has sometimes led to suspensions lasting up to a few weeks while new prices are being established, although sometimes prices have been adjusted more quickly. The US Mint has not publicly revealed their criteria for when pricing changes are made for silver numismatic products, however looking at current pricing levels and past actions provides some clues about where the US Mint’s current thresholds might be.

The one ounce 2011-W Uncirculated Silver Eagle is currently priced at $45.95. This price was last adjusted ($5 reduction) on December 27, 2011 when the market price of silver was around $29 per ounce. Sales were subsequently suspended on February 24, 2012, when silver was above $35 per ounce, but later resumed when the price of silver fell back.

The five ounce 2011-P America the Beautiful Silver Coins are currently priced at $204.95 each. The prices were last adjusted ($25 reduction) on December 27, 2011 when silver was around $29 per ounce. Sales were suspended on February 24, 2012 with silver above $35 per ounce, but resumed after silver declined.

The one ounce 2011-W Proof Silver Eagle went on sale April 12, 2012 priced at $59.95.  This price was established through publication in the Federal Register dated March 12, 2012 when the market price of silver was $31.47.

Although the US Mint is sometimes unpredictable, it seems like the prices for the numismatic Silver Eagles and 5 oz. ATB coins will not be adjusted unless silver falls more significantly below the level of the last adjustment or rises above $35 per ounce. It might be possible that the US Mint will slightly adjust prices of the Silver Eagles to keep them in line with the San Francisco Set scheduled for release on June 6, 2012. (They made slight adjustments to Silver Eagle products ahead of the release of the 25th Anniversary Set last year.)

The 2011 Silver Proof Set contains 1.33823 troy ounces of silver and is priced at $67.95. The 2012 Silver Proof Set is scheduled for release on June 4, 2012 and is also priced at $67.95. The price for the 2011 set had been established on January 4, 2011 when the market price of silver was $30.67 per once. Sales were suspended a few months later when silver rose to $43 per ounce, but resumed after the price fell back. In September 2011, the US Mint briefly suspended sales when silver fell to less than $30 per ounce, but later resumed sales with no price change.

The 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set contains 0.90420 troy ounces of silver and is priced at $41.95. The 2012 set is priced at the same level. The price for the 2011 set was established on March 18, 2011 when the market price of silver was $35.15 per ounce. Sales were suspended one month later when silver rose to $43 per ounce, but resumed after silver declined. In September 2011, sales were briefly suspended when silver fell below $30, but later resumed with no change.

The US Mint seems to have a very wide tolerance for the annual sets containing 90% silver coins. During the past few years, they have suspended sales and raised prices only when the melt value + other face value of the sets had risen to within a few dollars of the product price. However, when silver prices fell, they have never reduced the prices.

The 2012 commemorative silver dollars contain 0.7736 troy ounces of silver and are priced at $54.95 for proofs and $49.95 for uncirculated coins. The 2011 September 11 National Medal contains 1 troy ounce of silver and is priced at $66.95.

To my knowledge, the US Mint has never adjusted prices for commemorative silver dollars or silver medals during the course of an offering (excluding the changes related to pre-issue discounts). Based on this, I don’t think the US Mint would undertake any pricing action for these products unless the market price of silver rises to a point where the intrinsic value of the coins approaches the product prices.

The weekly average market price of gold based on the London Fix prices from the prior Thursday AM to the current Wednesday AM was $1,569.64. This fell into the $1,550 to $1,599.99 range, which was one pricing tier lower than the previous week. Since the Wednesday PM Fix price agreed directionally, pricing adjustments were made. The prices for impacted products were decreased by one tier, or the equivalent of $50 for each ounce of gold content. (For more information on how numismatic gold products are priced, refer to this post.)

Products with reduced prices include the 2011 First Spouse Gold Coins, 2011 & 2012 Proof Gold Buffalo, 2011 & 2012 Proof American Gold Eagles, and 2012 commemorative gold coins.

At the time of this post, the market price of gold is $1,539.90, which is already below the range used to calculate the reduced prices.

The continuing decline in precious metals prices has had the impact of reducing sales for the US Mint’s gold and silver numismatic products. Last week, declines took place for nearly all silver products. In this week’s report published yesterday, declines were noted for 15 out of 18 gold products.

The Mint will offer a 200-coin bag, containing 100 coins from the Philadelphia Mint and 100 coins from the Denver Mint. This are placed within a canvas bag sewn shut with an indication of the “P” and “D” mint marks, the date, “Kennedy Half Dollars”, and the face value of the coins.

Each bag is priced at $139.95. This represents an increase of $5 from the price charged for last year’s similar bags. Over the past two years, the price has increased by $9.

There will also be two-roll sets of the 2012 Kennedy Half Dollars available. The product consists of one 20-coin roll from the Philadelphia Mint and one 20-coin roll from the Denver Mint. These are packaged custom US Mint branded wrappers, which indicate the year, mint mark, face value, and issue.

Each two roll set is priced at $32.95. This represents a decrease of $2 from the prior year. Two years ago, the product was priced the same as this year’s offering.

For 11 years, the half dollar has been produced for collectors only. During this time, mintage levels have diminished, but seem to have stabilized around 1.7 to 1.8 million coins per year per mint facility.

2002-2012 Kennedy Half Dollar Mintages

At the time of this post, the two roll sets of 2011 Kennedy Half Dollars still remain available for sale on the US Mint’s website. It is possible that sales will conclude to coincide with the start of sales for the current year products. Although there hasn’t been much consistency over the years for product sales ending dates, most recently the US Mint seems to be concluding sales of numismatic bags and rolls when sales of the current year product begins. In the case of denominations with multiple designs, this has been occurring when sales start for the design one year ahead in the schedule.

The reverse design for this year’s Native American Dollar features a Native American and horse in profile. There are three small horses running in the background, intended to represent the historical spread of the horse. This reverse was designed by Thomas Cleveland and sculpted by Phebe Hemphill. The series has featured a different reverse design each year since 2009.

The obverse features the portrait of Sacagawea and child designed by Glenna Goodacre.

The 100 coins are packaged in a United States Mint canvas bag, which has been sewn shut. The bag indicates the face value of the contents, while a tag indicates the year and mint mark. Bags are available from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mint.

The bags are priced at $111.95 each, plus applicable shipping and handling.

As of the latest sales report, the United States Mint has sold 1,217,975 of the 2012 Native American Dollars through the existing offerings. This is lagging sales of the Chester Arthur Presidential Dollars, which have now sold 7,088,500 coins across the various product options.

2012 Native American Dollar Sales

2012 Chester Arthur Presidential Dollar Sales

Prior to adopting the new policy, the Mint was required to publish notice of any pricing changes within the Federal Register. Determining the new pricing levels and awaiting publication could sometimes take several weeks. In times of highly volatile precious metals prices, the re-pricing process could become even more prolonged. For example, in late 2008 the collectible versions of the Platinum Eagle were unavailable for more than two months. Presumably, by the time the US Mint had determined new pricing levels and them prepared for publication, the change in the market price of platinum had already made these numbers outdated.

The old pricing policy with a requirement for publication in the Federal Register is still in effect for products not specifically covered by the new policy. For example, the old policy still covers all numismatic silver products.

The new policy was originally adopted for the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle, numismatic versions of the American Gold Eagle, American Platinum Eagle, American Gold Buffalo, and First Spouse Gold Coins. In mid 2011, the new policy was also adopted for commemorative gold coins.

How the Flexible Pricing Policy Works

The United States Mint created itemized pricing grids for both gold and platinum numismatic products (here and here for commemoratives). The grids include ranges for the average price of gold established at $50 intervals and ranges for the average price of platinum established at $100 intervals. For each range, price levels are indicated for numismatic products.

Each week, the US Mint determines an average weekly price for gold and platinum. These are calculated based on the London Fix prices (found here) from the prior Thursday AM Fix to the current Wednesday AM Fix. This is inclusive of the PM Fix prices within the period.

For the most recent week, the prices for gold coins were as follows (Monday was a bank holiday in the UK):

These prices yield an average price $1,624.07. Within the US Mint’s pricing grids, this falls into the range of $1,600 to $1,649.99. In the previous week, the average also fell into the same range. As such, there was no change.

If the range falls into a higher or lower range than the previous week, then a pricing change might take place, subject to a second criteria.

To take into account the directional trend of prices, the US Mint looks at the Wednesday PM Fix price. In order for a pricing change to take place, the Wednesday PM fix price must agree directionally with the change. This means that if prices are to be increased, the Wednesday PM price must fall into the same tier or higher as the currently weekly average price. Conversely, if prices are to be decreased, the Wednesday PM price must fall into the same tier or lower as the current weekly average price.

So for a price change to take place, the average weekly price must be in a different range than the prior week and the Wednesday PM price must agree directionally with the change.

A final thing to mention is that the policy reserves the right of the US Mint to discontinue sales of gold numismatic products if the selling price of bullion products begins to approach the sales price of numismatic products. The US Mint has exercised this right on a few occasions in the past when the market price of gold has risen rapidly. It is worth noting that there is not a corresponding right to suspend sales in the event of rapidly falling gold prices.

Some issues with the Flexible Pricing Policy

The catalysts for new policy were “transparency, agility, and customer service”. When the policy was initially released, the US Mint did not reveal the second criteria of the policy, which was initially considered a secondary internal policy. Only through specific inquiry was the internal policy revealed and explained. The US Mint has since included an explanation of both the first and second criteria on the pricing grid pages.

Even with the explanation, the policy is still somewhat complicated and difficult to explain, especially judging by the number of questions that I receive about it.

The US Mint created the policy to be “more responsive to changes in the market price of gold and platinum” (see their press release), however the second criteria of the policy is used “with the intention of minimizing changes to prices” (see this article). These two goals seem to be at odds with one another.

The pricing tiers for platinum coins are established at $100 intervals, while the pricing tiers for gold coins are established at $50 intervals. The US Mint has never provided any specific explanation for this. When the new policy was adopted, the market price of gold was $827 and the market price of platinum was $964. As time moved on, the gap between the metals closed and currently the market price of gold is higher than platinum.

The pricing grid is set up so that for each $50 increase in the average gold price, product prices move up by exactly $50 per ounce, or the proportion thereof. This results in a situation where the percentage premium on the products decreases as the market price of gold increases. At the most extreme example, at a gold market price of $500 per ounce, the Proof Gold Buffalo would be priced at $810, or a premium of 62% over metal. At a gold market price of $2,999.99 per ounce, the Proof Gold Buffalo would be priced at $3,260, or a premium of 8.67% over metal.

The US Mint supposedly manages its numismatic program to a net margin of 10%, so at the extremes the pricing grid wouldn’t work in this regard. The grid also makes the inherent assumptions that the US Mint’s costs are completely fixed regardless of the price of materials and the level of production, which almost certainly cannot be the case.

For its flaws, the US Mint’s flexible pricing policy is better than its old policy. It’s also worth noting that most world mints that sell precious metals numismatic products do not seem to have specific policies with regards to pricing changes. On only one occasion have I seen a world mint reduce numismatic product prices in response to a decline in precious metals.

The newsletter will tie together a lot of the information and news that is presented here and on other websites that I operate. It will also include exclusive content that has not been published elsewhere.

Each newsletter will serve as a concise recap of the week in coins with a look ahead to the coming week. Other features include my own “reflections on collecting” and a weekly focus on a particular coin or coin series.

The newsletter is free and delivered each week to your email inbox. If you don’t enjoy it, you are free to unsubscribe at any time.

The inaugural newsletter is scheduled to be sent on Friday morning at 9:00 AM. To receive it, please sign up below.

Mint News Blog readers receiving this post by email can sign up at ThisWeekInCoins.com