2025 Gold $50 Proof Buffalo to be record low mintage?
HalfDime
Posts: 937 ✭✭✭✭✭
I was checking coin inventories and came across the 2025 Gold Buffalo Proof $50 coin that is still for sale on the mint website.
Many of us remember when these first came out way back in 2006. It had a record high mintage of 246,267.
Slowly over the years that mintage has declined as it was a yearly release up to now. So what is the possible mintage for this year?
I see from mint sales report we have 6,567 sold up to now. In inventory (assuming it is correct) we have 1,323 left.
That means a total possible mintage of 7,890.This is the first time this coin has broken below the 2008 low mintage key date of the UNC $50 gold buffalo of 9,074. This is how far the proof gold buffalo coins have fallen when it goes below UNC levels.
Will they make these next year, and will the mintage fall below this year? Only time will tell. but the 2025 $50 proof gold buffalo is a possible record low mintage and would be the new key date coin of the series.
Comments
what was the issue price at the time of each release?
PS This appears to be a possible record low mintage for any buffalo gold or silver coin in any denomination, including the fractionals.
That is cool and I appreciate your insight and analysis, but who here wants to pay the 2025 entry fee?
That being said, I still hold those 2008 gold Buffaloes.
i guess we are looking at the race to the bottom here
With the price of gold it makes sense. Sell some commons and buy the rare one.
i wouldn't buy a proof buff as rare right now
If gold continues it's bull run leg to new heights in prices, that buffy will just be considered bullion. IMHO
I really like these coins, but the mintages remind me of when we started to see ultra-low modern half eagle commem mintages. At first there was the idea that "this is the new key..." then "no, wait...this is the new key..." and now it just seems like "wait until the next one..." and they are all ultra-low mintages.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Needs a cow pie privy mark for the cat' meow!
Except for the fractionals, the rest are already bullion. Here's the wholesale price from upstate. They are $30 over spot on a $4000 coin.
All comments reflect the opinion of the author, even when irrefutably accurate.
The 2025 Gold proof Buffalo is sold out, and here are the latest numbers:
It came in at 7839 so far after the sell out, which is a record low. However, the 2026 which goes on sale next month shows they have 7950 in inventory which would make it close to the 2025.
If the 2025 can't hold a large premium, then 2026 seems unlikely to as well.
However, since the 2026 is a dual date coin, many may prefer it over the 2025 into the future. So far dual dates have done well in the market.
I suspect 2026 will beat 2025. High prices and so many 250th offerings this year will likely contribute.
Agreed, but it’s my #1 must have of the 2026’s. (Along with some BOM offerings too)
You say “record low mintage”, I hear “soon to be bullion”. Plenty of First Spouse coins available at melt, with combined unc + proof mint ages lower than the Buff. How many people are collecting a full set of 1oz Buffs? 20 coins @ $5k is 100 grand. Who cares about a “key date”?
Nothing is as expensive as free money.
2025 Buffalo Proof sold out at $5,690 while Gold is at $4,809 an ounce at the moment.
Nope, no interest here or amongst ANYBODY that I know...
Well, just Love coins, period.
My understanding is that the Big 3 in terms of liquidity from dealers and LCS is AGEs, Maple Leafs, and Krugerrands.
Maybe Buffalos aren't that liquid even though American made and differing only from AGEs in design and gold content ?
Super pickup?
Beyond my price point for sure. However, my neighbor has bought every gold issued by the US Mint since they began resumption of gold issues in 1986. I must say when all laid out on his dining room table I was in awe. Had them out for his wife to get a handle on them. Had them back to the safe deposit box that afternoon. He's slightly older than me, I'll be 80 this summer, so I understand the importance of family (wife in his case) understanding what he has purchased and the value. Smart guy.
bob
They're just releasing the 2025s NOW ???!!!
No, they released last year when gold was much more affordable.
It took Mint a couple months to sell off last 93 available:
https://forums.collectors.com/discussion/comment/14066811#Comment_14066811
I posted the end of inventory spot price showing a tidy $880~ish collector fee.
The last ones out the door versus spot.
These coins are increasingly just too expensive from the metal content alone to be competitive with other similarly priced (never mind much cheaper) coins except to those prioritizing liquidity and speculation. In other words, someone with very limited interest in recreational collecting which is what drives long-term price appreciation.
I keep reading NCLT threads started mostly by the OP about low mintage NCLT. When it's a trend as it is, it's primarily a lack of interest.
Now, I also keep hearing that in the future it's going to (radically) change, and the inference is presumably the same thinking included in Jordan's two NCLT books I bought. I've read both, and the (implied) assumptions disproportionately aren't accurate, starting with comparing collectors to financially motivated buyers, and implying equivalence between NCLT and circulating coinage which doesn't exist.
No, those mintages aren't actually low for a non-circulating coin, and the mintage difference isn't large enough to create an actual "key" date either which is something else persistently misrepresented in these threads. Practically every US proof coin prior to 1936 has a mintage less than 5000. No, not gold but still lower.
It's not an accident the premiums are low. It isn't interesting enough as a collectible.
The 2024 harriet Tubman gold UNC gold commemorative coin has proven you wrong. The V75 1945 mintage proof gold eagle coin has proven you wrong. The gold sacagawea space gold coins have proven you wrong. The Omega Lincoln Cents have proven you wrong. etc, etc. All NCLT.
To be fair, I think the only one of your four examples that "has proven you wrong" is really germane to the debate. The V75 is a one-off ultra-low mintage privy mark coin sold with lots of hype. The gold Sacagawea were not general release and were flown on the space shuttle. The Omega Lincoln cents were another ultra-low mintage "end of series" sale with tons of hype and a special medal issue. Truly, the only one of the four that is similar to the 2025 Buffalo is the 2024 Harriet Tubman gold commem.
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
Really like them. If low mintage, barn burner.
If someone was chasing the low mintage of the buffalo proof since inception they would’ve had to have bought the 2006, then the 2007, 2008, then the 2013, 2015, 2017, 2018, and then 2019, then the 2020, 2024 and now the 2025.
Every time you would’ve had a low mintage coin until you didn’t.
Will 2025 be the lowest forever, who knows, remains to be seen.
People who've bought from the beginning paid a far lower average price per coin than the current prices. I think (from memory) the 2006s were around $800.
People buy them on the mintage year for special occasions (graduations, anniversaries, gifts, etc.). After that year is over, the demand is virtually nil. Maybe a collector here and there, but not many.
In the long term, I highly doubt these will diverge far from the other dates of the series.
Early sales to dealers are 1264. ats 5550 equals about 6800 mintage.