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If you think you’ve had a hard time seeing brand new U.S. Mint 2009 Presidential Dollar Coins or 2009 One Cent coins (pennies), you are right. It seems that the perfect storm has hit the coin market and almost all new, mint-fresh coins are getting scarcer and harder to find.
Here are some of the many factors making new coins rarer, hard-to-find and thus more costly to both dealers and collectors. First, the huge drop in the national economy means people are spending less. And they are spending less in all forms... from credit card usage to writing checks, to using coins in any transaction. The fewer coins that people use means that retailers don’t have to tell the banks to order more coins and thus the banks tell the Federal Reserve they won’t be ordering more new coins. The Fed then tells the U.S. Mint they do not need as many coins... since they are not ordering them.
In fact, the Fed recently told the U.S. Mint their order for new coins will be down about 70 percent from last year’s total coin production of 10.1 billion coins. To compare, when I was the 36th U.S. Mint Director in 2000 and 2001, we set a record for the number of coins produced that year (over 26 billion coins). So this year the U.S. Mint may make fewer than 5 million coins (perhaps closer to 3 million coins) for all of 2009. In fact, the Mint production figures for January through April of this year show they made only 1.5 billion coins (that is ALL the coins they minted... from the Presidential dollars to the new 2009 pennies).
So what does this mean to you, the coin collector? It is good news and bad news. The good news is that the smaller the production level of the coins, like the Presidential Dollars, the scarcer they are... and thus the rarer they are. Ultimately, they are worth more in years to come because with so few produced, it gets hard for even major collector companies like The Franklin Mint to obtain fresh, newly minted 2009 coins BEFORE they enter into circulation.
Because the 'uncirculated' or 'never-circulated' coins are worth more, and are newer, fresher, in just-off-the-presses condition, even The Franklin Mint has to work harder to find those rare, 'uncirculated' coins that we make available to collectors who depend on The Franklin Mint to find the rare and hard-to-find coins. Now, with production of ALL coins so low, we have to act fast and move quickly to secure the vast amount of uncirculated Presidential Dollar Coins that we want to have available to our customers.
Here’s a look at just the production drop for the Presidential Dollars. 2007 marked the very first year the Presidential Dollars were issued. 2007 included such popular Presidential Dollars as those honoring Presidents Washington, Adams, Jefferson and Madison. The U.S. Mint issued 943 million Presidential Dollars for all of 2007.
Even last year, with still well-known Presidents such as Monroe, John Quincy Adams, Andrew Jackson and Van Buren, the production of dollar coins began to diminish, almost in half, to 464.4 million Presidential Dollars.
Now, in 2009, production for almost half the year of Presidential Dollars had slowed down to 187 million coins for Presidents William Henry Harrison and John Tyler. Their presidencies and those of James K. Polk and Zachary Taylor have not been the most popular times in presidential history, yet, just as they were each elected on a national basis and served this nation, they all played a part in our national history. In fact, some might say that since they ARE the lesser known of our Presidents and the production of their dollar coins might be smaller, those coins might be more valuable years from now, when the entire collection of Presidential Dollars is sought to complete a collection
It’s simple. The harder something is to obtain, the more valuable it becomes, and rarer is gets. The price for such a 'rarity' keeps going up.
Who would have ever thought that the Presidential Dollar honoring the President who gave the longest inauguration speech and yet served the shortest time in office (about a month) would produce the most sought after Presidential Dollar? (In case you are wondering, that was William Henry Harrison.) It might just happen....
Jay Johnson was the 36th Director of the United States Mint, appointed by President Clinton and serving until August of 2001 at which time he became a Senior Advisor to the Department of the Treasury. During Mr. Johnson's tenure, the Mint set new and unbroken records by producing more than 28 billion coins and returning a $2.6 billion profit to the U.S. Treasury. He oversaw the most successful coin program in history - the 50 State Quarter program - which was collected by nearly 150 million Americans, or roughly half the U.S. population. He also managed the Sacagawea Golden Dollar program (of which a record of over one billion was produced) as well as the launch of the Buffalo Silver Dollar, which became the fastest-selling commemorative coin in history. Mr. Johnson also oversaw the operations of the gold depository at Fort Knox.
Prior to his becoming Mint Director, Johnson was a U.S. Congressman from Wisconsin (8th District) and had a 30-year career as an award-winning local TV newscaster in Wisconsin, Michigan and Florida. In addition to his role as Chief Numismatist, Mr. Johnson will serve as the spokesperson and "face" of The Franklin Mint for any future television programs for medallic art and coin products.
