Breast Cancer Awareness coins on sale March 15

By Paul Gilkes

Published: Mar 2, 2018, 7 AM

All three coins in the Breast Cancer Awareness commemorative coin program — the silver dollar (shown), the copper-nickel clad half dollar, and the gold half eagle — go on sale March 15.

Original images courtesy of United States Mint.

Collectors will have their first opportunity to place orders for the 2018 Breast Cancer Awareness Commemorative coins at noon Eastern Time March 15.

The product options include the nation’s first pink gold coin. The gold $5 coin is limited to an overall release of 50,000 coins in Proof and Uncirculated versions.

Combined production of the silver dollar in Proof and Uncirculated versions is limited to 400,000 coins, while the copper-nickel clad half dollar’s maximum authorized limit is 750,000 coins.

For a 30-day introductory period from the initiation of sales, the Proof version of the silver dollar will be offered at $51.95, and the Uncirculated version at $48.95. Regular issue prices add $5 to the price of each version of the commemorative coin.

Introductory pricing for the copper-nickel clad half dollar is set at $27.95 for the Proof coin and $25.95 for the Uncirculated version, with regular issue prices $5 higher for each version.

While gold $5 commemorative coins are traditionally composed of 90 percent gold and 10 percent copper, the pink gold coins with be made of 85 percent gold, 14.8 percent copper and 0.2 percent zinc.

The pink gold coins retain the same diameter of .900 fine gold coins, at 0.85 inch, or 21.59 millimeters, and the same thickness, at 1.75 millimeters, but will be 5.6 percent lighter, at 6.741 grams.

Congress required the Mint to produce a “pink gold” coin, something that other mints have done but that is a first for the U.S. Mint. The color pink, of course, is often connected with breast cancer treatment and awareness programs.

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Pricing for the pink gold coins will be announced close to the release date. Pricing is set according to the Mint’s precious metals pricing grid. The grid stabilizes pricing, determining a single weekly coin price from a range of daily spot prices for the precious metal a coin contains. A price is subject to change depending on sustained changes in that range.