Major Low in Spouse mintage/Lucy Hayes UNC -Sold Out-

HalfStrike

Going Dark?

This may be a false warning, but the Lucy Hayes UNC is backordered now at 2152 mintage. If this holds it will be one low, low ugly mintage. Last spouse unc closed out at 2872 so this is quite a bit under that one.

Added. If it stays backordered tomorrow maybe it holds. I know not much interest in these but I can't see this one selling for spot when there is no inventory online for this particular coin.

kiyote

Hmm, I wonder... the status still reads:
Product will be available for shipping 08/21/2012

HalfStrike

This coin just went dark so we have a massive winner here, thanks to whoever put in the last order to close it out. Hope everyone got in.

Final mintage must be around 2200 or so, a new modern low.

Overdate

Is Lucretia next? Sales of 1945 as of last week.

HalfStrike

The Eliza Johnson went in and out of backorder if I remember right but this one went out fast so maybe we have hit bottom. With no inventory on this one except for backorder coins we might see these move quite nicely now.

Coinsponge

Maybe someone made a pretty big order to clear out inventory quickly. We should know soon.

Justlooking

Easter Egg reverse? I must have one of these! Wonder if she was related to Susan B. Anthony?

HalfStrike

I thought on the reverse those were little sacks of money the kids were rolling our way for how valuable these will be. We should get updated sales numbers tomorrow or Wednesday.

silverstreak

I own a PCGS FS 70 so hoping they are done

kiyote

I just picked up a FS MS69... for record money. /

Literally, MS70s FS were going for $200 less today than what I just paid.

wondercoin

Kiyote ... I wonder if chasing these MS69 Hayes coins for nearly 2x what they were selling for yesterday is the right move? Especially when you could buy a 4 year old 2008W 1/2 oz Burnished Platinum with a similar mintage for even less money now (and the King of the series). Hypothetically, what if the mint produces 2012 MS spouse coins and they all end up with around sub-2,500 mintages? What might the Hayes be worth then?

Just my 2 cents.

Wondercoin

kiyote

<< <i>Kiyote ... I wonder if chasing these MS69 Hayes coins for nearly 2x what they were selling for yesterday is the right move? Especially when you could buy a 4 year old 2008W 1/2 oz Burnished Platinum with a similar mintage for even less money now (and the King of the series). Hypothetically, what if the mint produces 2012 MS spouse coins and they all end up with around sub-2,500 mintages? What might the Hayes be worth then?

Just my 2 cents.

Wondercoin >>



I already have a 1/4th and 1/2 oz 2008 Burnished platinum coins but I see your point.. it was a very knee-jerk reaction buy. The worst kind!

*breathe*

I didn't just spend a lot of money on a Chinese fake. It could be worse.

wondercoin

Kiyote: Good answer.

Following a very low mintage spouse, I believe the Mint has a hard time selling 10%-15% above that mintage on subsequent pieces as those pieces begin to appear to be too high a mintage relative to the low one. I would not be surprised if that happened here as well. Good luck with the MS Garfield selling substantially more than the Hayes now (unless they offer it for a super long time). And, Lord knows what the Mint is going to do with the 2012 versions (and so on) at this point. It should get very interesting though a number of years from now when the Jackie Kennedy coin comes out.

As always, just my 2 cents.

Wondercoin

Overdate

I'm guessing that the mintages of the Lucy Hayes and the Lucretia Garfield are similar. The Garfield came out later and has sold fewer than 2000 as of last week, so it has a little catching up to do. At $941 per coin and half an ounce of gold, I think the Garfield unc. is a low-risk proposition regardless of mintage.

It will be interesting to see whether the proof mintages for these two coins come up short also. I think it's likely.

kiyote

I'm mostly feeling pain because I got the 2008 W burnished $50 platinum coin from the mint when they first came out-- then all went dark, repriced, and I picked up the $25 platinum coin at an even lower price. I'll get a rope-- tomorrow I'll either be skipping it or tying on end to a tree and fetching a stepladder.

Raufus

<< <i>This coin just went dark so we have a massive winner here, thanks to whoever put in the last order to close it out. Hope everyone got in.

Final mintage must be around 2200 or so, a new modern low. >>



Amazing. Of course, they can go lower still. Where will it end?? Way too expensive for me to chase each issue hoping to catch the low. Hat's off to those who guess right which one will be the low mintage winner.

pf70collector

This is the reason the mint is waiting to produce the 2012 Spouses. Lucy Hayes may set the mintages onward. Probably initial runs of 2200 instead of the 3000 quantities. The mint is trying to make this a less wasteful program. The series is waning. Die Hard collectors of the entire series may be only a thousand or so.

jmski52

<<sigh>>

The Mint just keeps milking the cow. It's nice when a couple issues turn out to be big winners, but the interim periods aren't so much fun.

WillieBoyd2

Is Lucy applauding an Olympic competition?

Coinsponge

I think the values of the Lucy Hayes unc coin and all of the others may be somewhat muted until an apparent mintage bottom is determined. First Spouse limbo.

gyromac

i have been saying all along, and yes i was there first day with the ridiculous USM order process for the first 3 spouses, its a great series to collect....

you pretty much acquired gold, rode the rise in the price of the metal since 2007, and now have a couple of trinkets that are "ultra" rare....

as far as the future of the series....who knows....USM has done stupid things in the past....don't expect anything less going forward....

silverstreak

<< <i>I think the values of the Lucy Hayes unc coin and all of the others may be somewhat muted until an apparent mintage bottom is determined. First Spouse limbo. >>



Congress needs to vote to cancel the program and then I'm a happy camper . Until the mint actually schedules the 2012's I can hold out hope. Would sure like to trade my 2011's for a big green box of ASE's Mr. Tulving? Yes I'd like to place an order today

Coinsponge

<< <i>

<< <i>I think the values of the Lucy Hayes unc coin and all of the others may be somewhat muted until an apparent mintage bottom is determined. First Spouse limbo. >>



Congress needs to vote to cancel the program and then I'm a happy camper . Until the mint actually schedules the 2012's I can hold out hope. Would sure like to trade my 2011's for a big green box of ASE's Mr. Tulving? Yes I'd like to place an order today >>




You can hold out hope but I think the chances are very slim. Not only is this series politically correct but the Mint is probably more interested in keeping busy with something than any profit margin. Remember, this is the govt. What Congressman is going to kill the First Ladies?

kiyote

While lowest mintages may be easy to determine, key dates may not be while this early in the game.

1. Supposedly a LOT of the earlier 2007-2009 issues hit the melting pots.
2. Demand on the Liberty subset might push those peices higher than the lowest minted unattractive coins.

TheRaven

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I think the values of the Lucy Hayes unc coin and all of the others may be somewhat muted until an apparent mintage bottom is determined. First Spouse limbo. >>



Congress needs to vote to cancel the program and then I'm a happy camper . Until the mint actually schedules the 2012's I can hold out hope. Would sure like to trade my 2011's for a big green box of ASE's Mr. Tulving? Yes I'd like to place an order today >>




You can hold out hope but I think the chances are very slim. Not only is this series politically correct but the Mint is probably more interested in keeping busy with something than any profit margin. Remember, this is the govt. What Congressman is going to kill the First Ladies? >>



Being they are selling less then 3000 coins I don't think 99% of people know of these coins and probably a good number of Congress doesn't know either.....

Coinsponge

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>

<< <i>I think the values of the Lucy Hayes unc coin and all of the others may be somewhat muted until an apparent mintage bottom is determined. First Spouse limbo. >>



Congress needs to vote to cancel the program and then I'm a happy camper . Until the mint actually schedules the 2012's I can hold out hope. Would sure like to trade my 2011's for a big green box of ASE's Mr. Tulving? Yes I'd like to place an order today >>




You can hold out hope but I think the chances are very slim. Not only is this series politically correct but the Mint is probably more interested in keeping busy with something than any profit margin. Remember, this is the govt. What Congressman is going to kill the First Ladies? >>



Being they are selling less then 3000 coins I don't think 99% of people know of these coins and probably a good number of Congress doesn't know either..... >>




Let some Republican cancel the series and after all the feminists express their "outrage" on MSNBC or the View (to score political points) then see who knows about them.

pf70collector

I wonder what will happen to the Julia Tyler's now. No longer the key. Or did someone just purchase 800 of the these lucy Haye's at the last minute as a bullion/rarity play.

Coinsponge

<< <i>I wonder what will happen to the Julia Tyler's now. No longer the key. Or did someone just purchase 800 of the these lucy Haye's at the last minute as a bullion/rarity play. >>



Well to really know we will have to see the final numbers. We haven't got any seems for a while.

Overdate

ALERT! Lucretia just went on backorder.

kiyote

<< <i>ALERT! Lucretia just went on backorder. >>



I saw that! I just picked up a PCGS MS69 FS for waaaaay closer to mint cost than I did Lucy Hayes. Hopefully one of the two pans out.

Overdate

If mintages stay in the 3000's, the Lucy/Lucretia proofs may be a good buy also. By way of comparison, check out the 2008-W Platinum Eagles. Mintage for the proof $25 and $50 was around 75% higher than for the uncs., but the proofs currently fetch a substantially higher price than the uncircs.

pf70collector

I will play with this one. Bought a Garfield MS. See if it pans out or even if I get it since it is on backorder.

bigole

How has the value of Lucy Hayes in Unc reacted?

kimber45ACP

Last Order:
1 2011 LUCRETIA GARFIELD 1/2 OZ GOLD UNC

Status: Suspended

Coinsponge

<< <i>Last Order:
1 2011 LUCRETIA GARFIELD 1/2 OZ GOLD UNC

Status: Suspended >>




Holy smoke. That was fast.

kimber45ACP

2007-2010 mintages - 2011 is more accurate on link below
2011 mintages

edit link to the latest 2011 mintages

shorecoll

I'm still stunned by the whole thing...I can see the Liberty subset, but the dogs are only for people doing the set...are there really 2,000 people buying a set of these? I can afford them and have no interest, so that means there are 2,000+ people who actually like these things?

Coinsponge

<< <i>I'm still stunned by the whole thing...I can see the Liberty subset, but the dogs are only for people doing the set...are there really 2,000 people buying a set of these? I can afford them and have no interest, so that means there are 2,000+ people who actually like these things? >>




I don't think "like" is the right word. I think that some think they have long term collector value. Liking something is a factor but not the whole thing. Some you collect because you like them, others you collect because you think they will retain value and maybe even grow. I don't know if it is healthy to like some material item beyond a certain point anyway.

kiyote

<< <i>I'm still stunned by the whole thing...I can see the Liberty subset, but the dogs are only for people doing the set...are there really 2,000 people buying a set of these? I can afford them and have no interest, so that means there are 2,000+ people who actually like these things? >>



From the mint, they're not horribly priced above bullion. I'm sure some are buying it for the gold content more than the numismatic value.

Overdate

Lucy Hayes 2,243 and sold out!!

Lucretia Garfield 1,973 just prior to sellout - I expect next week's numbers will be closer to Lucy Hayes.

kimber45ACP

<< <i>Lucy Hayes 2,243 and sold out!!

Lucretia Garfield 1,973 just prior to sellout - I expect next week's numbers will be closer to Lucy Hayes. >>



I am usually on the ball with my ordering, but slipped up and did not check mintages for a couple of months for some reason.
I ordered both the Hayes and the Garfield, but they both have a status of backordered with a scheduled ship of 8/22.
Not sure if I will get one or not.

Overdate

There are two more shoes left to drop:

The proofs.

Lucy is currently at 3352 with Lucretia at 2954. If sales for each end in the mid-3000's these will do very well also. Proofs are much more popular with collectors than uncircs.

Both coins are still available from the Mint at $954, but with gold above $1600 the price will likely be bumped tomorrow (Wednesday) morning.

goldbuffalo

My order is backordered for Garfield. Not suspended.

It was the last one offered in 2011, so maybe with the hype we'll get a sell out, be we are not there yet.

drfish

L and C coins has ms70 Lucy Hayes PCGS first strikes for $1650

Draped10c

<< <i>L and C coins has ms70 Lucy Hayes PCGS first strikes for $1650 >>



Very good price for the new King!

Coinsponge

<< <i>

<< <i>L and C coins has ms70 Lucy Hayes PCGS first strikes for $1650 >>



Very good price for the new King! >>



Or would it be Queen?

She may not be on her throne too long though. That is the thing that might make one hesitate.

Bankerbob56

Part of the magic for collectibles involves making just enough quantity to satisfy demand, or just slightly less. The fine line involves making enough product to allow for enough people to have an interest in the product to create said demand. The problem with these spouse coins is that there aren't enough produced to even gin up demand at any level! The absolute lack of interest in these coins will not change. As a series it is dead in the water. Granted a few issues may do better than others. i.e. Jackie Kennedy, but overall this will continue to have such a narrow band of interest that I doubt values will ever escalate much beyond melt.

DeepCoin

This series reminds me of the 3CN proof series. They are scarce in terms of numbers minted, yet the lack of demand for the series holds back the price. Think about the Morgan 1893-S coin or the 1916-D Mercury dime. Far more available, yet the price on these popular coins remains high and probably always will given the collecting dynamics of those series.

Overdate

All except the 2007 issues are already significantly beyond melt. The First Spouse series will never attain the popularity of Lincoln cents or state quarters, but within its niche there is room for its popularity to increase, along with prices. Many people will want to collect subsets, such as the 4-coin Liberty group, but as the series nears completion there will probably be many deep-pocketed collectors willing and able to acquire a full set. The very low mintage of the keys will add to the set's cachet.

HalfStrike

Until the Garfield UNC actually goes Sold Out is is not 100% certain that they don't have more inventory. I tend to think that they don't but we won't know for sure until it goes dark.

mariner67

Lucy unc is $966 at Mint's kiosk on the floor at ANA now.