Why is there only one proposed Commemorative coin for 2003?

LanLord

Is there a spare for some special event that hasn't been decided upon yet? It seems like there are always 2 commems per year (as of late anyway). What's up with that?

gmarguli

I don't know. Maybe they are hoping that by offering only one ugly commem instead of two that they will get more total sales for it?

FC57Coins

Isn't the new Jefferson Nickel reverse debuting this year?

Frank

nwcs

Maybe the mint finally realized what everyone has seen for years. THEY MAKE TOO MANY OF THEM!

meos1

Anyone know what this dubious beauty looks like?? Is it silver or Gold??

cosmicdebris

Clad Half dollar, Silver Dollar and a $10.00 Gold coin each with a different design for the Wright brothers.

meos1

As I clamour to see the design (Anyone know where the proposed work of art can be found?) I am reminded of something someone here said not too long ago regarding commems issued at the mint...It went something along the lines of just buy them after the mint release becasue they mostly lose thier value....

cosmicdebris

Linky Poo

keets

hey meos1

the key word in your post is mostly. not all of the mint modern commems go down in value just as not all of the designs suck. one thing about collecting that strikes me as humorous is that the naysayers are generally the most vocal but that's what makes it an interesting hobby. if you consider the classic commemeratives, it's almost a certainty that collectors of that time period felt similarly with several issues per year and consecutive year mintages. funny, collectors of today can't get enough of that overkill and some of those bland designs.

one thing for certain that i've learned about coins, they appreciate and are appreciated with the passage of time.

al h.

ClausUrch

Thank you, Keets!
Wish I could have said that but I couldn't even attempt to speak so eloquently.

meos1

Keets:

Well put. I have been beating the drum about a '36 Columbia, SC commem lately. I think the commemrative craze has struck me. I agree completely regarding "they appreciate and are appreciated with the passage of time."

Dan

dpoole

The Mint has wised up since 1994 or so, by issuing commemoratives in the 10s of thousands rather than the hundreds of thousands. The 1982 Washington half dollars still languish around the $5.00 range, because of mintages that approached five millon--far more than the collecting community could absorb of coins that are always kept safe, and never circulated. For those early commoratives, the secondary market was clearly the place to buy.

Since 1994,though, there have been consistently lower mintages and some genuine rarities (relative to demand), such as the Robinson MS gold. There have also been some genuinely nice designs, such as the Statue of Liberty, and some imaginative ones, such as the Library of Congress bimetallic.

It seems that they've learned their lesson (maybe): it kills the goose who lays the golden egg, to crank out more than one or two commemoratives a year, or to get too greedy with the mintages.

Bikingnut

I thought there were two scheduled for thids year. One for the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers first flight and one for Lewis and Clarks expedition.

Russ

There really are some of these that, by modern standards, have very tiny mintages. For example, the '96 Soccer half at 52,836 and Swimming half at 49,533. When you think about it, logic says that it wouldn't take much of an increase in demand for these coins to see substantial price appreciation.

Russ, NCNE

ClausUrch

Russ...the mintages you described are high compared to the 1996 Dollars in MS

Tennis...15,983
Paralympics...14,497
Rowing...16,258
High Jump...15,697

And the Golds are even less!

cosmicdebris

Lewis and Clark is 2004

Tootawl

According to the US Mint website, the Upcoming Commemorative Coins are:
2003 First Flight Centennial Commemorative Coins
2004 Thomas Alva Edison Commemorative Coin
2004 Lewis and Clark Expedition Commemorative Coin

JLW

<< <i>Russ...the mintages you described are high compared to the 1996 Dollars in MS

Tennis...15,983
Paralympics...14,497
Rowing...16,258
High Jump...15,697

And the Golds are even less! >>


These coins are already realizing fairly high prices as a result, the ones Russ mentioned are still considerably less (along with several others) but are bound to appreciate greatly. Many modern commems. have ridiculously high proof mintages compared to the same coin in MS. These are currently undervalued IMO.
Joe

merz2

It just may be the lack of silver.The Mints stockpile was dwindleing.The price for silver is going up.They be affraid to commit to more than one.

ldhair

Whats really great is that the ones people hate the most and don't buy end up being worth the most.
Go figure.

BowAxe

Remember, it's not the Mint that decides how many commemoratives to produce each year, it's Congress. There was an article in a recent issue of Coin World documenting that none of the proposed coinage bills for 2003 passed, except for the First Flight coins.

Also, the low mintages for the modern commems are not the result of any "smarts" on the part of the Mint. If I understand the process correctly, they only strike enough to fulfill the orders they receive, plus the excess that they estimate they will need for replacing damaged returns. The Act establishing an issue may set a maximum mintage of 500,000 but the Mint may only receive orders for 10,000. Therefore it is the buying public that ultimately determines how rare an issue will turn out to be.

Dell

fantasiize

ldhair,

Excellent statement on how irony can be very ironic.