Has anybody heard anything regarding the release of the bullion and blasted 2012 pucks? We are now in the second quarter and have seen the bullion and proof Silver Eagle and the 2 commemorative releases for the year, but no mention of the pucks. Is the Mint secretly hoping everyone forgets about them so they can drop the program? It seems weird, but maybe it's not.
Apmex believes they will be issued, but I have read nothing to affirm a release date. http://www.apmex.com/Category/1417/2012_America_The_Beautiful_5oz_Silver_Bullion.aspx
According to the U.S. Mint they are minted under the 2008 ATB dollar coin act Public law 110-456 so it would take a law to over ride this one or they would have to go through a law repeal process and you'd hear about that. Just like the presidential dollars issue. Personally I think almost everything is shuffled back about two months time except for the ASE's and the commems. Even the gold buffalo's were about a month late no? Haven't worried about them the past four years but I seem to remember them coming out around Feb. this year it was march 15th.
Question for you numismatics enthusiasts - should the Mint escape their legal obligation and shut down the ATB program, how would that affect numismatic value over the coming years? Existing coins become more interesting and valuable, or less?
They are planning on reducing the mintage: A mintage of 126,700 for each of the 2011 5-ounce silver America the Beautiful bullion coins sounded good at the start, but with sluggish sales this past year, the U.S. Mint has decided to slash output in 2012. “We penciled in right now 45,000 per release,” said U.S. Mint Deputy Director Richard A. Peterson in a recent telephone interview. And the mintage for the numismatic version of the coins will drop from 35,000 for 2011-dated coins to 25,000 for 2012 pieces. There appears to be a base of around 8-10 thousand collectors that have all current releases and will want these regardless of mintage. They will still be readily available but likely to sell at a faster pace as the number sold hits 15,000 and collectors don't want to miss out on the coin. I am guessing sales to start mid year - after the ASE releases are out.
What is the mint waiting for – higher silver prices? Maybe they’ll do a last chance offer for the 2011-P’s before they introduce the 2012-P’s. Looks like it’s mint operations as usual. Starting in 2011 they were suppose to offer the annual sets in January, so we’d have them for gifts all year long, but we won’t see a silver proof set until June.
That is some great privy information of only 10 thousand loyal collectors. Alot of people can draw endless conclusions as to the future value of these "coins". I would like his take on how many "like collectors" there are for the ASE program. There has to be more than 100,000 but how many more?
