I haven’t run all the numbers for all the coins available only in rolls/bags from the mint, but some show higher mintages than the final sales. For example, 2012 Kennedy Halves show mintages of 1.7M-D’s and 1.8M-P’s, yet sales are less than 1.4M for each mint. Anyone know what happens to these unsold coins? Are they melted? Are they sitting in vaults, maybe to be released into circulation or sold years down the road, like the CC Dollars?
Did you include the mint set sales figures in the sales figures? I'm not sure if they melt down the surplus but they should. I would think they try to make sure the overrun isn't too large.
Per the mint's webpage, the unc set coins are not included in the stated mintages. It would be nice if they melted them, but knowing the mint and what happened with the CC dollars who knows. If no one chimes in with a cite and link, I might try to pursue this with the mint or a coin publication. Actually, the 2012 Kennedy Halves are a bad example because they are still on sale, but there are others where the sales are lower than the stated mintages.
Just received this link from Michael at Coin News Update. http://www.coinworld.com/Articles/ViewArticle/ever-wonder-what-happens-to-unsold-u-s-mint-p Hope the mint follows its procedures, as some coin sales are far below there stated mintages.
