Coin Production Slows for Third Straight Month
It appears that demand for business strikes has subsided, but the production of collector issues has not been interrupted.
The U.S. Mint has slowed production of circulation coinage for three straight months. The August production figures indicate a decline of 9.6 percent from July, although this is an 8.7 percent increase from August one year earlier. Ironically, the Mint has struck more Kennedy half dollars during 2023 than during any year since 2001. Perhaps demand for business strikes has subsided, but production of collector issues has not been interrupted. More than half the maximum authorized mintage of 2023-W $25 palladium American Eagle coins were sold on Sept. 7, the first day of their issue.
The Mint is always experimenting with possible new coins. Special transitional coins from the American Eagle bullion coin program realized more than $4.6 million when they were sold on the Mint’s behalf by Stack’s Bowers Galleries in 2022. This fact wasn’t lost on the British Royal Mint, who consigned their Royal Succession Sovereign and Britannia bullion coins to Stack’s Bowers. The coins sold recently for more than $5.1 million. All 690 lots sold.
Adding more fuel to the proverbial auction fire, Heritage Auctions sold a Series 1934 $10,000 Federal Reserve Note for $480,000 and one of five or six known 1870 $20 double eagles for $456,000 at the recent Long Beach coin show. CDN Publishing recently released a study indicating the value of the U.S. rare coin market at $6 billion in 2022. An estimated $560 million of this was sold through auctions.
Collectible yet more generally available coins continue to sell well with only minor changes in prices, the exceptions being unusually higher certified and graded coins with nice eye appeal. Bullion and bullion-impacted are trading in a relatively tight range as the stock market continues to waffle.
