2009
The Good:
- Lincoln cent collectors had their day in the sun with 4 circulating commemoratives, a return to a mostly copper composition in uncirculated sets, and it was all topped off with a Lincoln Silver Dollar.
- The U.S. Territory Quarter program came to an end with the Northern Mariana Islands wrapping up the series with the lowest mintage of 72 million.
- The 2009 UNC & Proof Sets were the largest in mint history with 36 coins in UNC sets & 18 in Proof sets. Interestingly, 2009 was the 50th year of the mint issuing a single UNC set (prior to 1959 UNC sets came in pairs i.e. two Philly & two Denver issues) and this little fact went unnoticed by collectors and the U.S. Mint.
- Native American dollars make their debut, based on previous SAC & Pres dollars demand was expected to be low but surprisingly collectors warmed up to the design.
The Bad:
- The U.S. Mint announces that no American Silver Eagle proofs will be produced for 2009 causing disappointment for thousands of Eagle collectors. But collectors should look on the bright side as the proof series has not been eliminated but simply on hold. While this may not provide solace to collectors they should look at coinage from the 20s & 30s where there were many gaps for different coins.
- In late spring the U.S. Mint announces that they are ceasing minting of Nickels & Dimes creating the smallest mintage of those denominations since the 1950's.
- In December, the U.S. Mint announces they have produced enough dollar coins to last 12 years. Since producing dollar coins is a federal law this inventory should steadily increase unless Congress takes action.
2010
I have no crystal ball so I won't even attempt to predict the good or bad so instead I'll rant a little for the upcoming year :)
So a new cent design will be released, yes it is a rather dull design but it's still change (no pun intended) and I will be looking forward to a new design.
The Mint announced yet another quarter program (National Parks). Many seasoned collectors have been mumbling enough is enough with these quarter programs. But before we become so condescending, this is actually a boon for anyone that collects circulated coins. True, it is more than likely that these coins will never achieve any significant numismatic value but is hoping for value the only reason for collecting? If it is then I quit! And here's a radical concept for all of those mumbling collectors….DON'T BUY'EM AND KEEP YOUR OPINIONS TO YOURSELF! The rude comments by some really discourage new collectors that what they are doing is worthless, please get off of that damn high horse!
A new Native American Dollar design will be released this year based on a design representative of the Iroquois Confederacy. I was a late looking at this new series but have to admit that it's attractive enough that I will be acquiring some :)))
A new Boy Scout Silver Dollar Commemorative. I expect this to be as popular as the U.S. Marines commem, Imagine how many Scouts will get this coin when they receive the honor of Eagle Scout.
Coin Shows!!!! The last three months of 2009 showed some really crappy inventories at coin shows. There were lots of common high grade coins, very little in the way of collectors grades (VF to XF), and foreign coinage (especially silver) was non-existent. I'm really hoping with the NY International Numismatic & FUN conventions that this will allow some dealers to restock with new inventory.
Well….that's a wrap folks :) Here's to some blogging in 2010
