Insights
United States Mint limits gold Proof Kennedy half sales at ANA
- Published: Jul 16, 2014, 7 AM
Sales of the gold Proof 1964-2014-W Kennedy 50th Anniversary half dollar to collectors attending the American Numismatic Association’s World’s Fair of Money in Rosemont, Ill., will be limited to one per person.
The one-coin-per-person restriction will also be in effect at the sales center at Mint headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the contracted sales centers at the Denver Mint and Philadelphia Mint. Sales begin Aug. 5.
Mint officials inititially placed a two-coin-per-person limit on sales, but changed that to one coin per customer on July 31.
There will be a five-coin-per-household limit for orders placed on the Mint's website and by telephone at 800-872-6468.
J. Marc Landry, the U.S. Mint’s acting associate director for sales and marketing, said during a July 16 teleconference with numismatic media that the Mint anticipates having 40,000 coins available for sale and immediate shipping on the first day.
The issue will be struck to demand, he said.
Pricing is tied to the U.S. Mint’s pricing grid for coins containing precious metals. Pricing for the gold Proof Kennedy half dollar, which contains three-quarter-of-an-ounce of pure gold, will be announced close to Aug. 5.
Landry said the preference is for no mintage limit. The Mint has sales estimates projected, but if demand greatly exceeds that target, it might not be able to meet that demand.
Landry said that the U.S. Mint plans to have 2,500 of the gold Proof Kennedy half dollars available during the five-day ANA show, Aug. 5 to 9, with 500 coins reserved for sale each day.
To avoid problems with collectors and dealers lining up hours before the scheduled 11 a.m. Central Time sales launch Aug. 5, an announcement will be made 15 to 30 minutes before on the convention bourse directing those interested where to begin lining up, Landry said.
Tickets will be distributed to those waiting in line, providing the opportunity to buy one of the gold Proof Kennedy half dollars, Landry said.
Landry said the Mint will have three cash registers to handle customers, with two dedicated to sales of the Kennedy gold half dollar Proofs, and one for sales of all other Mint products.
The two-coin 2014 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half Dollar Uncirculated Coin Set goes on sale at noon Eastern Time July 24 at $9.95 per set, with a household ordering limit of five sets.
The two-coin set contains two copper-nickel clad half dollars — one 2014-P coin and one 2014-D coin.
Landry said there will be 37,000 of the two-coin sets available the first day of sales to accommodate immediate shipping. Production plans will be adjusted if necessary based on the first week of sales, Landry said.
The Mint has already produced and packaged sufficient sets to meet initial demand without overproducing, Landry said. The Mint wants to avoid potential cost overruns by ordering too much packaging. Leftovers would have to be scrapped if the product does not sell.
In the fall, to tie in with the Mint’s launch of its fully integrated, state-of-the-art Order Management System (OMS) will be the four-coin 2014 50th Anniversary Kennedy Half Dollar Silver Coin Collection, to be sold at $99.95.
The set will be the Mint’s first major numismatic product under the OMS, Landry said.
The set will contain:
- ?One Reverse Proof 2014-W coin from the West Point Mint.
- ?One Proof 2014-P coin from the Philadelphia Mint.
- ?One Enhanced Uncirculated 2014-S coin from the San Francisco Mint.
- ?One Uncirculated 2014-D coin from the Denver Mint.
There is no maximum authorized mintage for the four-coin set.
Landry said there are currently no plans to offer any of the Kennedy 50th Anniversary half dollar product options without special packaging.
Mint officials are hoping that the new OMS will lead to the elimination of the “waiting room” feature under the current decade-old system, Landry said. That would allow more customers to be processed without technical problems.
The obverses of the seven Kennedy 50th Anniversary half dollars bear U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Gilroy Roberts original sculpt of President Kennedy modeled in December 1963 and introduced on the half dollar in January 1964.
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