Launch of sales by the U.S. Mint for the 2020 Basketball Hall of Fame commemorative coins is delayed to noon Eastern Time April 9, rather than April 4, after events associated with the original launch date were cancelled because of coronavirus concerns.

The Mint, in conjunction with the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, was scheduled to launch sales of the coins April 4 during the NCAA Fanfest as part of men’s college basketball Final Four Festivities, but public health concerns resulted in the entire basketball tournament being scrapped, taking with it the coin sales launch.

The U.S. Mint has released introductory and regular issue pricing for the coin products that will be offered beginning April 9.

The coins will be available for sale online and by telephone at 1-800-872-6468. Hearing and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may telephone 1-888-321-6468.

Because of coronavirus precautions, the sales center at U.S. Mint headquarters in Washington, D.C., and the contracted sales outlets at the Denver and Philadelphia Mints are closed indefinitely.

Colorized coins

Colorized versions of the silver dollars and copper-nickel clad half dollars will be offered later in the calendar year. Despite multiple Coin World requests over the past several weeks concerning details for the nation’s first colorized coins, the Mint has not released complete information.

Coin World has repeatedly asked how the colorization is being produced, and has requested details on the value of a contract the Mint awarded to an outside vendor to execute the post-strike colorization to coins shipped from their Mint production facility.

The U.S. Mint plans to reserve 75,000 of the Proof 2020-P Basketball silver dollar (which will have details on the coin’s reverse colorized) and 75,000 of the Proof 2020-S copper-nickel clad half dollar (which will have specified obverse details colorized).

The gold $5 half eagle, limited to a combined Proof and Uncirculated release of 50,000 coins, will not be colorized.

The silver dollar has a maximum combined authorization of 400,000 coins in Proof and Uncirculated versions.

The maximum authorization of clad half dollars is 750,000 pieces, in Proof, Uncirculated, and Enhanced Uncirculated, the version to be included in a limited-edition Basketball Kids set. The Kids set is restricted to 75,000 sets, with a household order limit of five sets.

The Enhanced Uncirculated 2020-S Basketball half dollar, available only in that set, will not be colorized.

According to the U.S. Mint’s description of the Kids product option, “The design of this Basketball Hall of Fame Enhanced Uncirculated Half Dollar featured in this special Kids Set was created using a new advanced technique to laser polish some of its design elements while preserving the intricate details.

“Some areas of the enhanced uncirculated finish have a brighter sheen than a standard uncirculated coin but not the full mirror-like appearance of a proof coin.”

Pricing

Pricing information for the numismatic products to be available April 9 are listed below, with the introductory price identified first, followed by the regular issue price.

The price for the Kids set is the same under both issue periods.

The introductory price period runs through 3 p.m. Eastern Time May 11.

The prices for the Proof and Uncirculated gold coins will be set closer to the release date and are subject to change with the movement in metals prices.

– Single Proof silver dollar, $69, $74.

– Single Uncirculated silver dollar, $64, $69.

– Single Proof half dollar, $39, $44.

– Single Uncirculated half dollar, $37, $42.

– Kids Set, $45.