Buyers have grabbed 815,680 of the new El Yunque National Forest “S” mint clad quarters in the first 11 days that they have been available.
The uncirculated coins are not being sold individually.
Buyers have the option of paying the U.S. Mint $18.95 for a roll of 40 coins, or roughly 47.38 cents each, or they can purchase them by the 100-coin bag for $34.95. That brings the individual coin price down to 34.95 cents each.
The Mint adds a shipping and handling fee of $4.95 per order to push the individual coin costs even higher.
So far, 7,907 rolls have been purchased and 4,994 bags.
These new quarters are not being released through the banking system, nor in any of this year’s annual sets.
Collectors are trying to assess their potential rarity as well as desirability. Historically, clad coins and/or uncirculated quality have taken a backseat to silver coins and/or proof quality.
The U.S. Mint established an initial production target of 1.4 million pieces for each of the five America the Beautiful quarters that will be struck with the “S” mintmark. However, that target will be raised if demand warrants.
On July 12, the Chaco Culture National Historical Park S-mintmarked clad quarter was to become available, giving collectors only three weeks to focus on the initial El Yunque quarter offer.
Whatever the final demand for this first issue turns out to be, there is an historical tendency for it to decline for succeeding issues.
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