Two US Silver Coins Debut in June 2011

The United States Mint in June will release two new silver coins for collectors and possibly a 5 ounce silver bullion coin intended for investors.

The Mint will make available the Yosemite National Park 5 Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin on Thursday, June 9, and it will start selling the 2011 American Silver Eagle Proof Coin on Thursday, June 30. The silver coins will debut well, since both series have strong track records.

The Yosemite Silver Uncirculated Coin is the third in the 2010 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin series. Its list price is likely to be $279.95, the same as the Hot Springs and Yellowstone silver coins.

The United States Mint struck 27,000 of each 2010 design and has been enforcing a one coin per household limit. The first Hot Springs silver coin was made available on April 28 and sold out on May 12. The second Yellowstone silver coin opened on May 17 and sold out on June 1.

Many more collectors, however, will be waiting for the release of the 2011 Silver Eagle Proof Coin. The initial fever for the proof Silver Eagle may not be as strong as last year when 273,212 sold in the first three days, but many thousand will be snatched up in the first week.

When the United States Mint finished selling the proof Silver Eagles in 2008, collectors had scooped up 700,797 between August and December, according to the Mint’s website. In 2010 collectors bought 860,000 between November and January (2011). The United States Mint did not offer a 2009 proof version.

The total mintage, price, and household limit are details that the Mint will announce soon. Last year’s coin was $45.95 with a household limit of 100. This year’s price is likely to be near $60 as the cost of silver has risen sharply and each Silver Eagle includes one ounce of the precious metal. The melt value of silver when the 2010 Silver Eagle proof coin launched was around $22 an ounce. Today silver is hovering around $38 an ounce.

Once available, the collector silver coins can be ordered directly from the United States Mint at http://catalog.usmint.gov/ or its toll free number 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).

As mentioned, there is a possibility that the Mint could release another five-ounce silver bullion coin through it network of bullion resellers. Toward the end of April it released both the Gettysburg National Military Park 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin and the Glacier National Park 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin. The Olympic National Park 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin was released one month later. If the Mint continues with another monthly staggered release, it will launch the Vicksburg National Military Park 5 Ounce Silver Bullion Coin toward the end of June.