There are a number of items related to US Mint product offerings that I wanted to cover before the weekend. As in the past, I will provide quick coverage of separate topics within the same post.

2011 Proof Gold Eagles

The US Mint has provided information on the upcoming release of the 2011 American Gold Eagle Proof coins. As in prior years, the coins will be available in individual one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce sizes, as well as a four coin set.

The stated product limit for each option is shown below. The mintage limit, which is composed of the product limit from individual sales plus multi-coin sets, is also shown.

The product limits for some options have been increased from the levels of the prior year. The individual one ounce has been increased by 5,000 units, the individual one-tenth ounce by 3,000 units, and the 4 coin set by 1,000. When the coins were available last year, the US Mint did not produce the coins to the full extent of the product limits. See the final 2010 Proof Gold Eagle sales in this post.

Pricing for the 2011 Proof Gold Eagles will depend on the average London Fix price of gold from yesterday’s Thursday AM to next week’s Wednesday AM price. If the average price stays within the $1,450 to $1,499.99 range, then the prices for each option would be as shown below.

These prices are proportionally $150 higher for each ounce of gold content when compared to the initial pricing for the prior year release. This follows the increase in the market price of gold.

I will have a full post on this important product offering closer to the release date.

Suspension coming for 2011 Silver Proof Sets?

Late last week, the US Mint suspended sales of the 2010 Silver Proof Set and 2010 ATB Quarters Silver Proof Set. At the time, the price of silver had just broken above the $40 per ounce level. Sales of the 2011-dated sets were allowed to continue, presumably because these were already priced a few dollars higher.

At the time of writing this post, the price of silver has now risen to $42.59 per ounce, which may put the 2011 Silver Proof Sets at risk of suspension and eventual repricing.

The 2011 Silver Proof Set contains 1.33823 troy ounces of silver, now worth $57.00. With the additional face value for the base metal coins included in the set, the value of the set is $62.06, compared to the current US Mint price of $67.95.

The 2011 ATB Quarters Silver proof Set contains 0.90420 troy ounces of silver, worth $38.51, compared to the current US Mint price of $41.95.

2010 Grand Canyon Quarter Three Coin Set on Sale

On April 13, 2011, the US Mint began sales of the America the Beautiful Quarters Three Coin Set for the Grand Canyon design.

Each set includes uncirculated versions of the quarter from the Philadelphia and Denver Mints and a proof version of the quarter from the San Francisco Mint. The three coins are mounted on a plastic card, which contains a description of the site and coin design, as well as a certificate of authenticity.

The sets are priced at $14.95 each. As mentioned in previous posts about this product type, this is an incredible mark up above the cost of the coins if acquired through the annual sets.

Nonetheless, the US Mint does manage to sell a relatively large number of the sets, with sales of 17,233, 17,022, and 14,451 for the previously released Hot Springs, Yellowstone, and Yosemite three coin sets.

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