US Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act Becomes Law

The United States Marshals Service 225th Anniversary Commemorative Coin Act became Public Law 112-104 with President Obama’s signature on April 2, 2012.

Beginning in 2015, the U.S. Mint will release gold, silver and clad commemorative coins in honor of the U.S. Marshals Service and its 225 years of service. The nation’s first Federal law enforcement agency was founded in 1789 and its 225th anniversary occurs in year 2014. Each of the coins minted will feature those two anniversary dates, as well as their year of minting, 2015.

A limited number of the coins may get produced in year 2014 as the U.S. Mint is authorized to provide examples to the Director of the United States Marshals Service and employees of the Service for the purposes of celebrating their 225th anniversary. Read More…

American Silver Eagle Bullion Coin Sales Rebound in March 2012

Sales of the American Silver Eagle bullion coin rebounded last month after a tumbling performance in February, but the pace was the slowest for a March since 2008.

United States Mint distributors ordered 2,542,000 Silver Eagles last month, marking a 70.6% improvement over the February total of 1,490,000 which clocked in as the slowest month since November. Compared against the same time frame last year, however, bullion coins moved 8.1% slower. Read More…

Star-Spangled Banner Silver Dollar Sales Outpace the Pack

Sales of Star-Spangled Banner silver dollars continued to outpace all of the other U.S. Mint numismatic silver products, the latest sales figures show. Plus, this year’s silver quarters set and the Uncirculated Silver Eagle both beat the Infantry silver dollars during the week’s race.

Garnering 7,476 orders in this round was the proof Star-Spangled Banner Silver Dollar. It was a tad more than the previous week’s report, which was 7,237. The next closest star of the silver products was the uncirculated Star-Spangled Banner Silver Dollar with a gain of 2,076. At this time, proof sales are outnumbering uncirculated sales by almost 3 times. Read More…

Final Day for Star-Spangled Banner Introductory Gold, Silver Coin Pricing

Pricing for 2012 Star-Spangled Banner Commemorative Coins will be raised at 5:00 PM ET on Thursday, April 5, 2012 after having been on sale since March 5, 2012.

The $5 gold and $1 silver coin products offered by the United States Mint will see price increases of $5 each. The following table provides the current introductory prices, upcoming regular prices and the most recent U.S. Mint sales figures for each product as of Monday, April 2. Read More…

2012 Australian Koala 1 Kilo Silver Coin Available

The Perth Mint of Australia continues its immensely popular silver koala series with the release of an extremely limited mintage coin struck for collectors. The 2012 Australian Koala 1 Kilo Silver Proof Coin is available now from the Perth Mint with a mintage cap of just 500 coins.

Like other coins in the Koala series, each of these is composed from 99.9% pure silver. Shown on the reverse is the image of a sleeping koala. Koalas are only found in the coastal regions of eastern and southern Australia. Their indigenous nature to the country makes them an ideal icon to be used on coins representing the nation. Read More…

2012 Year of the Dragon Silver Ten-Coin Set

A new multi-coin colorized set has just been issued by the Perth Mint of Australia expanding on its popular silver lunar series of coins. The 2012 Year of the Dragon Silver Ten-Coin Set is available now from the Perth as part of its Australian Lunar Series II Program.

The set contains coins all struck from one ounce of 99.9% pure silver. Each reverse showcases the same basic dragon image that originally appeared on the Year of the Dragon Silver Bullion Coins first issued by the Perth Mint last year. (A high relief version was released only a month ago.)

Year of the Dragon Ten-Coin Set Designs and Specifications

Lunar coins from the Perth Mint date back to 1999 when the Lunar Series I made its debut. The first strikes of the current Lunar Series II made their inaugural appearance in 2008. Coins in both series feature reverse designs showcasing the creatures of the Chinese zodiac — rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon and runs from January 23, 2012 to February 9, 2013. Those born in the Year of the Dragon are said to be strong, self-assured, artistic and loyal.

The ten-coin set released by the Perth Mint as part of the Year of the Dragon all showcase the same image of the mythical creature on their reverse. The dragon curls around the left side of the design with a focus on a ‘pearl of wisdom’ representation on the right. A reverse inscription of "Year of the Dragon" is seen below with the Chinese character for dragon also inscribed.

The coins are differentiated by a coloring treatment applied to the dragon image. Dragons of red, blue, brown, purple, silver, white, yellow, black and gold are seen along with a traditional bullion finish silver dragon.

The obverse of each coin contains the Ian Rank-Broadley effigy of Queen Elizabeth II. Obverse inscriptions include "ELIZABETH II," "AUSTRALIA," "2012," "1 DOLLAR" and "1 oz 999 SILVER."

As indicated by the obverse inscriptions, each coin has a legal tender face value of AUS $1. The 45.60 mm diameter strikes are each composed of one ounce of .999 fine silver and come together in a single presentation case with custom-designed shipper. A numbered certificate of authenticity is also included indicating the extremely limited mintage of just 2,500 sets.

The 2012 Year of the Dragon Silver Ten-Coin Set may be purchased directly from the Perth Mint for AUS $990.00, plus shipping and handling.

Ad Banner to Perth Mint Website for New Coin Releases

 

About the Perth Mint

The Royal Mint of England originally opened the Perth Mint of Australia (http://www.perthmint.com.au/) in 1899 as a branch of the London facility. Its original purpose was to refine gold from nearby deposits in Coolgardie and Kalgoorlie and mint gold sovereigns from it.

It continued in operation as a branch of the Royal Mint until ownership was transferred to the State Government of Western Australia in 1970. Today, the Perth is the official issuer of the Australian Federal Government’s Gold and Silver Bullion Coin Program in addition to producing some of the world’s most unique collectible coins.

Silver Prices Gain 16.4% on Quarter Despite 6.2% Loss in March

Silver prices rallied in New York on Friday, capping a quarterly gain for the first time since the first three months of last year and despite a tumbling performance in March.

In percentage, silver prices rose 16.4% in first quarter 2012 due to sharp advances in January and February of 19% and 4.2%, respectively. For March, the white metal lost a portion of those earlier monthly gains as it plummeted 6.2%. It also fell from first to second place in the list of best performing precious metals of the year. Platinum now holds that honor with its quarterly gain of 17%. Gold is in third at 6.7% while palladium is struggling at the rear with a loss of 0.3%. Read More…

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