Today the U.S. Mint is releasing what is surely the most eagerly anticipated coin of the America the Beautiful 5-ounce silver series of coins with a “P” mintmark that are aimed at collectors and feature a matte finish.

The coin, which is the 34^th of the “P”-series, is the Theodore Roosevelt National Park issue that features a gorgeous design by Joel Iskowitz that depicts President Roosevelt riding a horse as he surveys the terrain near Little Missouri River.

There is also a bullion version of the coin that is already available from bullion and coin dealers around the country.  That coin went on sale to the Mint’s network of Authorized Purchasers on Aug. 29, and as of last Friday, October 2, 30,500 of the coins have been sold.

The P version has an authorized maximum mintage of 30,000 units, while the overall maximum for both versions is set at 150,000 coins.  In theory that means the bullion coin has a maximum of 120,000 coins, but of fewer than 30,000 of the collector version are sold, the mint can make more than 120,000 bullion coins if there is sufficient demand.

Most sales of both coins tend to occur early on soon after they first become available. 

Sales of the bullion coin do seem to be unusually low given the huge popularity of President Roosevelt with coin collectors because of his critical role in creating the nation’s most beloved gold coins, especially the Saint Gaudens $20 gold double eagle, which was part of the renaissance in American coinage that he launched in collaboration with Saint Gaudens.

In addition, the design of the coin has been very well received by collectors.

With spot silver prices having dropped dramatically this week to under $17.50 an ounce, the bullion coin can be purchased at the moment for around $110 or less.  I suspect that we will see stronger sales for this version in the coming weeks if silver stays at about these levels.

As for the “P” puck, as collectors often refer to the version sold directly by the Mint to consumers, I expect it to be a strong seller, but whether or not it achieves an actual sellout remains unclear.

Some collectors predicted very strong initial sales, and to avoid disappointment they purchased the coin through the Mint’s enrollment program.  I confess to being one of these nervous nellies, who did not want to take any chances.

And keep in mind that a sellout is not a guarantee that the P version will sell for an especially high premium.  A very quick or instant sellout usually has that effect, but it is often only temporary until those coins reach the secondary market, depending on how many dealers bought for resale and how many went to collectors to keep.

No matter what happens in terms of current sales, this issue in both versions will undoubtedly be one of the most popular of the series over the long term, which should help it to garner a premium over other releases.

But I doubt they will emerge as series keys, which are typically the lowest mintage coins.  That honor seems set to remain with the 2012 coins.