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Message:: [QUOTE="yakpoo, post: 1192556, member: 18157"]Hey-ya Joe! Waddaya know? <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> The prices listed above seem close to what I've seen MS70 and PF70 coins sell for on eBay. "Some" of the '69s sell for a slight premium, as well. I'm surprised to see prices stay firm given the number of people liquidating their collections.  Even folks that can keep up with the series, don't have much left over for other pursuits. Given that this is nearly a ten (10) year series, it's easy to understand why so many are abandoning the series. Rising gold prices and a shrinking collector base conspire to produce even lower mintages in the future. The Eliza Johnson seems particularly weak and may be the next "Key" to the series.  Many speculate that collector interest will continue to wane and the series will never be worth much more than bullion. They look to the performance of the US Mint's "<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Arts_Commemorative_Series_medallions" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Arts_Commemorative_Series_medallions" rel="nofollow">American Arts Commemorative Series medallions</a>" as evidence of what's in store for the "First Spouse Bullion" series. The American Arts Series was a series of ten (10) gold commemorative medallions (the first of each year being 1 Oz and the second being 1/2 Oz) issued between 1980 and 1984. It's been reported that many of the medallions were later melted or made into jewelry. The surviving numbers are unknown. They are still available from retailers such as APMEX. Year.....Design....................Minted..........Sold1980.....Grant Wood.................500,000.......312,7091980.....Marian Andersen........1,000,000.......281,6241981.....Mark Twain.................141,000.......116,3711981.....Willa Cather................200,000.........97,3311982.....Louis Armstrong...........420,000.......409,0981982.....Frank Lloyd Wright........360,000.......348,3451983.....Robert Frost................500,000.......390,6691983.....Alexander Calder..........410,000.........75,5711984.....Helen Hayes..................35,000.........33,5461984.....John Steinbeck..............35,000.........32,572 The fact that these were medallions and not legal tender coins set them apart from the First Spouse series. In fact, the 1980 and 1981 coins didn't even list their gold content or the country of origin. As you can see, the mintages of the First Spouse series are considerably lower than those of the American Arts series and, even though First Spouse coins are called "bullion", they're still legal tender coins. I firmly believe that once the First Spouse series ends and all the people dumping their collections are out of the market, prices will begin to rise. Some prices have already risen quite a bit above bullion...even with all the selling that's going on.  Using modern commemorative gold coins for comparison, since 1982, gold commemorative mintages less than 12,000 have enjoyed numismatic premiums above their bullion value. Subject matter and design play a role, but I still think you'll find that the 12,000 figure holds up (on average). That suggests there are approximately 12,000 gold commemorative collectors in the world willing to pay a premium over bullion (if required) to complete their collections. As the First Spouse collector base expands beyond the observed mintages, competition should put upward pressure on prices. Especially after the series ends, I expect the First Spouse collector base to expand beyond that of commemorative gold. Worst case scenario...you end up with some nice gold bullion.  Best case scenario...you end up with a collection that will be unattainable once the series ends. To quote Noah Cross (John Huston) in the movie "Chinatown"...  First Spouse coins should be added to the list. :thumb:[/QUOTE]

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