Puck "Cents"

The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park puck went on sale on 26 August 2019, and the mint sold just 12,169 in the first week of sales. It is the 49th puck in the ATB series. Other pucks continue to have weak sales and this release has surprisingly not generated much interest in this program. I would like to dispel the rumor that the Texas puck is bigger than the others. Apparently, everything isn't bigger in Texas as it is the same size and weight as the others. Other pucks available at the mint include the Cumberland Island, Block Island, Lowell, American Memorial Park, and War in the Pacific pucks. I rate the design of the latest puck as average. I liked the design of the earlier 2019 pucks better than this one. Here is some information on the puck from the mint website.

"The San Antonio Missions National Historical Park (Texas) is the fourth release of 2019 in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. This reverse (tails) design depicts elements of the Spanish Colonial Real coin to pay tribute to the missions. Within the quadrants are symbols of the missions: wheat symbolizes farming; the arches and bell symbolize community; a lion symbolizes Spanish cultural heritage; and a symbol of the San Antonio River symbolizes irrigation methods and life-sustaining resources. Inscriptions are “SAN ANTONIO MISSIONS,” “TEXAS,” “2019,” and “E PLURIBUS UNUM.” The San Antonio Missions made up one of the largest concentrations of Spanish missions in North America during the 1700s and helped create the foundation for the city of San Antonio. The missions were built as walled compounds containing the church, living quarters, workshops, storerooms, and fortified towers. The blending of cultures is reflected in the 18th century Spanish architecture and the indigenous designs. The missions were built close together because of the natural resources found near the San Antonio River. Construction of aqueducts and irrigation canals (acequias) brought water to the missions, sustaining farming and ranching. The missions’ toolmaking, carpentry, looming, spinning, and masonry further contributed to the community’s ability to be self-sustaining. The missions are surrounded by residential and commercial areas, demonstrating both their modern-day success and unbroken connection with the past."

 

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The Texas puck has been released since the last update. Sales have been extremely low for all six of the remaining pucks that remain on the mint website. Puck values have increased slightly since the last update in June. It is probably related to the increase in silver prices over the past two months. At the current rate, the four 2019 pucks will have a tough time reaching the 15,000 threshold. Although I expect the San Antonio puck to reach that threshold, I'm guessing that the others will fall far short. The chart and graph tell the story.

 

The Frank Church River of No Return puck went on sale on 14 November 2019. It is the 50th puck in the ATB series. Other pucks continue to have weak sales and it will be interesting to see if the Idaho puck follows the same trend. The US mint hasn't released sales figures since the 3rd of November so we have no sales data yet. Other pucks available at the mint include the Cumberland Island, Block Island, Lowell, American Memorial Park, War in the Pacific, and San Antonito pucks. I rate the design of the latest puck as better than average. It is better than the San Antonio puck design but not quite as good as American Memorial Park puck. Here is some information on the puck from the mint website.

The America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™ – Frank Church River of No Return Wilderness (Idaho) is the fifth and last release of 2019 in the America the Beautiful Quarters Program. This reverse (tails) design depicts a piloted drift boat on the rushing river encompassed by the trees and rock formations of the wilderness. The puck is made up of rugged mountains, deep canyons, and wild whitewater rivers, including the Main Salmon River and Middle Fork of the Salmon River. Designated a national site in 1980, the River of No Return Wilderness was later renamed in honor of the late U.S. Senator Frank Church, who played a leading role in its establishment as a protected wilderness. The area encompasses more than 2.3 million acres, is the largest single connected wilderness in the contiguous States, and contains four national forests. It is known for the variety of landscapes visible from the river, including wooded ridges rising to the sky, huge eroded monuments and bluffs, picturesque castles and towers, and solitary steep, rugged rocks.

 

The Idaho puck was released since the last update. The mint has finally released sales figures for their 2019 offerings but not for the pucks that are still available at the mint from 2018. Sales were very slow for the Frank Church River of No Return puck over the first month at just 12,170. I'm surprised at the continued slow sales of the Texas puck but surprisingly the War in the Pacific puck has nearly over taken the Lowell puck at 14,729. Market values continue to decline for most of the pucks despite a rise in silver prices. The chart and graph tell the grisly story:

 

Wish there was more interest in the pucks. Wish the mint would lower the price some.

 

With the release of the sales figures last week, I've updated the spreadsheet. Apparently, the mint had some sudden employee departures and hadn't released updates for over two months. Sales continued to be very slow for the Frank Church River of No Return puck over the two months at just 13,034. Seven pucks remain on sale with little interest from the coin collecting universe. Despite an increase in silver price, the pucks continue to slightly decline in value. I'm guessing that the mint will produce 14K-15K of each puck in 2020 to deal with this lack of demand. The chart and graph tell the grim story:

 

Phil

Thanks for your steadfast diligence, posting the data and commentary about the pucks.

 

With the mint raising the price on the 2020 pucks to $178.25. Might reduce sales further.

 

Obviously, the mint isn't reading my post. They raise the price by 15% in 2020 while puck sales plunge further into the abyss. They are having trouble keeping key mint employees and can't even update the mintage numbers on their website. As it is one of the department's that makes money for the US Government, you would think that they would spend a little money to make more money. Another reason why we're losing faith in the Executive branch.

 

Shame it seems they're in disarray. Was intending on getting the bat 5 ounce. But the price increase turned me off.

 

2020-P Bat Puck is now on BACK ORDER.
Next expected shipment...May 18

 

The National Park of American Samoa puck went on sale on 6 February 2020. It is the 51st puck in the ATB series and the first of 2020. The US mint hasn't released sales figures since the 12th of January so we have no sales data yet on this offering, but it is currently on backorder after only a week of sales. Whether it is production issue or heavy sales is unknown but I would lean toward the former. All the 2019 pucks remain available for sale on the mint's website including the Lowell, American Memorial Park, War in the Pacific, and San Antonito pucks. It appears that the Cumberland Island and Block Island pucks from 2018 have sold out as they no longer appear on the mint website. I like the bat design on the Samoan puck and rate it high compared to others in this series.

From the mint website: The 2020 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin™— National Park of American Samoa— is the first release of 2020 in the America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. The reverse (tails) design depicts a Samoan fruit bat mother hanging in a tree with her pup. The image evokes the remarkable care and energy this species puts into its offspring. The design is intended to promote awareness to the species’ threatened status resulting from habitat loss and commercial hunting. The National Park of American Samoa is the only park in the U.S. national park system the Samoan fruit bat calls home.

Located some 2,600 miles southwest of Hawai'i, the National Park of American Samoa is one of the most remote national parks in the United States. The park includes sections of three islands—Tutuila, Ta'ū, and Ofu. Almost all of the land area of these volcanic islands—from the mountaintops to the coast—is tropical rainforest. The park encompasses 13,500 acres, of which 4,000 are underwater. Visitors will not find the usual facilities of most national parks. Instead, with a bit of the explorer's spirit, visitors will discover secluded villages, rare plants and animals, coral sand beaches, and vistas of land and sea.

 

I have the first 5 pucks and have picked up a few of the others whenever the design caught my fancy (or when I found them on sale close to spot). I think these will end up being sleeper hits, like the 1930s era commemorative half dollars.

But those took a few decades to find their collector market.

 

I hope you're right because I've got all 51 of them.

 

This is a long delay. What could have happened at the mint? They aren't updating production numbers and now this delay. Can we start a conspiracy theory about coronavirus at the Philadelphia mint? No pucks, no half dollars, and no production numbers suggest a virus has hit the mint in Philadelphia

 

. . . Damn straight

 

The mint has released production numbers on the 2019 Philadelphia half dollar (1.8 million, which is the same as the Denver half). They still haven't released production numbers on their numismatics products since 12 January.

 

Finally, the mint has released sales figures on their numismatic offerings. It is the first release since the beginning of January. The 2018 pucks are no longer available at the mint. The assumption is that the last sales report for the Georgia and Rhode Island pucks are the same as the mintage numbers from the 11 January report. Six pucks remain on sale at the mint including all five from 2019. The demand continues to be low for the collector pucks. Thus, the mint decided to increase the price of the 2020 offerings from $155 to $178 to maintain margins (my guess). The chart and graph continue to tell the story:

 

I thought the joke was supposed to be "we'll sell at a loss and make it up in volume", not "we'll kill sales and make it up by hiking our margins"...

 

Yeah. The mint has turned me off with their price increases. Thanks for the update Phil.