Will the american arts medals....

partagas

Always be treated as bullion? Or do you think they have a shot of being collected, and prized for a perfect 70.

waterzooey

Will always be buillon.

Weiss

Less than bullion. They don't have a face value. They don't state purity, they don't state weight. They don't even identify themselves as US Mint products.

Calling them bullion is like calling gold teeth bullion.

291fifth

<< <i>Less than bullion. They don't have a face value. They don't state purity, they don't state weight. They don't even identify themselves as US Mint products.

Calling them bullion is like calling gold teeth bullion. >>

Jinx86

Which I think is sad as they are nice coins. I personally have only found one with all origonal paper work and packaging that was a gem...at least to me. Its also the only one in my collection.

RMLTM79

They arn't even listed in the Redbook anymore. I think the 08' edition had them but I didn't see them this year.

dcarr

<< <i>Less than bullion. They don't have a face value. They don't state purity, they don't state weight. They don't even identify themselves as US Mint products.

Calling them bullion is like calling gold teeth bullion. >>



Not entirely true. The first two years do not state metallic content or weight.
But the last three years do. Also, years 1 & 2 do not have denticles. Years 3, 4, & 5 do.

illini420

For those of us who don't know what the "american arts medals" are, any help???

HalfStrike

The mintages are too high on these IMO to ever have enough collectors to make them worth much more than gold value, just look at the spouse gold coin mintages for a comparison.

Dentuck

<< <i>For those of us who don't know what the "american arts medals" are, any help??? >>




There's an appendix on them in the 2009 edition of the Guide Book of United States Coins. You'll also find information in the second edition of Cornelius Vermeule's Numismatic Art in America. Both of these books can be borrowed for free from the Dwight N. Manley Numismatic Library if you're a member of the ANA.

Steve27

Less than bullion:

kranky

The mintages were high but many were melted/unissued. By the last year they were only minting 20,000 at a time to avoid melting so many. Look at 1980 Marian Anderson - over 70% of the mintage was unsold! [data from the Coin World Almanac].

Could the 1984 pieces be sleepers? Perhaps, but I don't think they'll ever wake up.

Original mintage:
1980 1 oz. Grant Wood 500,000 / 1/2 oz. Marian Anderson 1,000,000
1981 1 oz. Mark Twain 141,000 / 1/2 oz. Willa Cather 200,000
1982 1 oz. Louis Armstrong 420,000 / 1/2 oz. Frank Lloyd Wright 360,000
1983 1 oz. Robert Frost 500,000 / 1/2 oz. Alexander Calder 410,000
1984 1 oz. Helen Hayes 35,000 / 1/2 oz. John Steinbeck 35,000

Number sold:
1980 1 oz. Grant Wood 312,709 / 1/2 oz. Marian Anderson 281,624
1981 1 oz. Mark Twain 116,371 / 1/2 oz. Willa Cather 97,331
1982 1 oz. Louis Armstrong 409,098 / 1/2 oz. Frank Lloyd Wright 348,305
1983 1 oz. Robert Frost 390,669 / 1/2 oz. Alexander Calder 74,571
1984 1 oz. Helen Hayes 33,546 / 1/2 oz. John Steinbeck 32,572

I'm sure by now that many of the issued pieces have been melted as well. I don't think they will ever attract a following, especially the ones without dates, "US of A", etc. If you didn't know any better, you could mistake them for a Franklin Mint product.

partagas

Shame as they are nice looking medals.

Ahrensdad

These is just no interest in these. I recently sold three of these for 98% of melt. I have one more that will probably go for the same. Until 6 months ago, I had never even heard of these much less owned one.

FredWeinberg

I bought last year four complete sets, in five
U.S. Mint Boxes (cardboard, etc.).

With gold over $1,100 in the past few months,
I tried very hard to find a buyer over melt, with
no luck.

Like many items, when the gold content is so
high/valuable, the premium shrinks to nothing,
or in some cases, a negative few percentages.

IE, their gold content exceeds their collector interest
at current prices.

Same thing happened in 1980, when gold hit $850.

partagas

Appreciate the inputs, to the refiner they shall go.

dcarr

I would add that true MS-69 (or 70) pieces are probably quite rare since every single one I've ever looked at has at least a few small bag marks on it.

edix2001

The 1986 Statue of Liberty unc. gold $5 piece is around spot as well, with a mintage approaching the low end of the arts medals. It sold at a pretty big premium in the mid-1980s. I'd rather have two of those than a half ounce arts medal.