America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins Delayed

The United States Mint today did not release the five debuting 2010 America the Beautiful 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coins as it originally planned.

The US Mint decided instead to postpone their launch in response to customer concerns surrounding their availability and, most importantly, the premiums being levied by sellers of the silver coins.

The United States Mint announced last week that the 2010 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins™ would be available to order by its purchaser network beginning today, December 6. That news was welcomed by many who have been anxiously awaiting their release.

However, last week the US Mint also informed the public of the extremely limited mintage for each of the five 2010 dated coins. Undoubtedly owing to many factors, including initial production difficulties, it was announced that there would only be a maximum of 33,000 produced for each 2010 bullion coin, for a total of 165,000.

In an attempt to minimize issues surrounding the matter, the US Mint warned in a memo to its authorized purchasers about expected demand and reminded them of pricing expectations:

Because the United States Mint was only able to produce and make available a limited quantity of each these silver bullion coins in the relatively short period since the authorizing legislation was approved, we anticipate that demand for these coins will be significant. Accordingly, as Authorized Purchasers of the United States Mint, we want to remind you of your commitment, under your Authorized Purchaser Agreement, "to maintain buy/sell premiums for the United States gold and silver bullion coins with as narrow a spread between buy and sell prices as prudent business judgment permits. These premiums are to be competitive with those charged for other bullion coins, considering prevailing market conditions." Although the United States Mint has no control over the fair market value of these coins once they reach the secondary market, we anticipate that our Authorized Purchasers will carry out the United States Mint’s objective to market these silver bullion coins in a manner which ensures that they will be available, accessible, and affordable to all members of the public.

The US Mint uses a network of authorized purchasers for all of its bullion products, including millions of bullion gold and silver American Eagles sold annually. The network was established as a means of insuring quick, easy and relatively inexpensive access to the precious metal bullion products for investors wanting to add them to their portfolio.

Each new five ounce America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin will automatically carry a premium placed on it by the US Mint of $9.75 to cover minting, marketing and distribution costs. Additional premiums would then be added by the network of purchasers to allow for a small profit for their involvement in the distribution of the strikes. Unfortunately, however, further premiums down the sales channel had been apparently escalating higher than the US Mint anticipated. The Mint also received numerous inquiries from the public asking about the limited availability and those high premiums.

Several coin dealers were quoted with premiums on the new five ounce America the Beautiful Bullion Coins in amounts exceeding $120 per coin. There were some premiums as high as $160. The US Mint evidently felt these levels were excessive, as many interested buyers did. Accordingly, the Mint cancelled the plans for a release today and issued the following statement to its network:

The United States Mint issued a press release on December 1, 2010, announcing the December 6, 2010, availability of the 2010 America the Beautiful Ounce Silver Bullion Coins through the established network of Authorized Purchasers who, in turn, would make them available on the secondary market. Due to the limited availability of the 2010 America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coin coins, public anticipation has been extremely strong. Since the press release was issued, the United States Mint has received numerous calls and inquiries from the public regarding premiums being charged for these coins. As a result, we are delaying the launch of this program. No America the Beautiful Ounce Silver Bullion Coins orders will be confirmed today.

No indication has been given by the Mint as to when the silver bullion coins might actually be released.

America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins Information

The America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins are investment grade strikes composed of .999 fine silver. Each has a diameter of three inches and an edge inscription indicating the coin’s weight and fineness.

The bullion coins feature obverse and reverse designs similar to the circulating America the Beautiful Quarters® Program. On the obverse is a portrait of George Washington as designed by John Flanagan.

The reverse will showcase designs emblematic of sites of national interest from around the United States including one site from each state, the District of Columbia and the five territories of the United States.

Coins in the program will be released at a rate of five per year until the program is completed in 2021.