Reverse proof coins carry a finish that is the opposite of the traditional cameo proof, generally with raised design elements appearing mirrored against frosted background fields. The finish has been used by the US Mint on a number of occasions across several different series. Reverse proof Silver Eagles have been included within special sets issued in 2006, 2011, 2012, and 2013. A reverse proof Gold Eagle was issued in 2006, and a reverse proof Platinum Eagle was issued in 2007, both as included within special multi-coin anniversary sets.

In this post, I wanted to share some images of the upcoming coin. Click on any image for a larger version.

The image above is the product image provided by the US Mint. Unfortunately, not very much differentiation is apparent between the frosted and mirrored design elements.

Starting with 2013-dated coins, the US Mint altered their photography style for proof (and reverse proof) coinage. Since the mid-1980′s they had used a full or partial black background to distinguish mirrored features of a coin. With the improvements in photographic techniques and equipment, they decided to stop using the heavy black shadowing on proof coins. According to the Mint, “Digital photography capabilities have improved to the extent that we can now distinguish between the mirror-like background of a proof coin and the finish of an uncirculated coin without manipulating the image with a shadow.”

The US Mint recently displayed an actual example of the 2013 Reverse Proof Gold Buffalo coin at the ANA National Money Show held in New Orleans from May 9-11, 2013. Scott Barman, the author of Coin Collectors Blog, captured the following images which are represented here with permission.

These images more clearly showcase the different finishes and provide a much better idea of how the coin would actually look in hand.

The US Mint has not yet indicated the release date for the 2013-W Reverse Proof Gold Buffalo coin. They have confirmed that it will be offered individually and the packaging will consist of the same wooden box as the standard proof coin, but the outer box will be differentiated with a leather-like material.

Within a press release and other communications, the Mint has indicated that pricing for the offering will be determined under the pricing grid for gold and platinum coins available at this link. It is still unconfirmed whether the price of the reverse proof will be taken from the same “American Buffalo 24K Gold Proof” column that is used for the regular proof, or whether a new column will be added with different pricing. If the prices of the two products are identical, demand is sure to be high for this special reverse proof anniversary coin, likely cannibalizing some of the demand from the regular proof issue.

The American Gold Buffalo bullion and collector coin series began in 2006 and represented the first 99.99% pure gold coin produced by the United States Mint. The designs for the coin are from James Earle Fraser’s original 1913 Type 1 Buffalo Nickel featuring the profile of a Native American on the obverse and an American Bison on the reverse. This design will celebrate its 100th anniversary this year, which the US Mint will mark with the issuance of an individual reverse proof coin later in the year.

During the course of the series, the US Mint has issued one ounce bullion versions of the coin for each year of issue. One ounce proof versions have also been issued for each year, with fractional one-half, one-quarter, and one-tenth ounce coins issued in 2008. Collectible uncirculated versions with the “W” mint mark were issued for a single year in 2008, with one ounce, one-half ounce, one-quarter ounce, and one-tenth ounce coins available.

The one ounce 2013-W Proof Gold Buffalo is offered without a stated maximum mintage or household ordering limit. The initial pricing for the coin will be $1,790, based on an average gold price within the $1,400 to $1,449.99 range. A lower price was just narrowly missed since the Wednesday PM London Fix price was above $1,400. Even though the weekly average was in a lower tier, the US Mint uses an additional criteria that the Wednesday PM price must agree directionally with any shift in price brackets. As with all numismatic gold coins, the price will remain subject to weekly adjustment.

How will the 2013 Proof Gold Buffalo fare with collectors? There are several factors that will have an impact on ordering.

The initial price is lower compared to the prior year when the 2012-dated proof was initially offered at $1,960. As we have seen with some silver offerings, lower pricing can sometimes stimulate demand.

On the other hand, some collectors may choose to purchase the upcoming reverse proof version of the coin instead of the regular proof version. This would serve to hamper demand for the traditional offering as collectors opt for the special offering.

The relatively early sell out of the 2012-dated proof and positive secondary market performance may also impact collector sentiments. After the 2011-dated release lingered in availability for 19 months, the 2012-dated release sold out after about ten months at the second lowest mintage level for a one ounce proof coin of the series. Sometimes these unexpected sell outs can result in higher demand for the subsequent issue of a series from collectors who felt that they missed out.

The mintage levels or last reported sales for each proof issue of the series are included below.

Proof American Gold Buffalo Mintages

The 2013 Silver Proof Set contains a total of 14 coins, with five quarters, a half dollar, and dime struck in a composition of 90% silver. Each set contains net silver content of 1.33823 troy ounces, with an additional face value of $5.06 worth of base metal composition coins. Sales for the set began on May 2, actually the same day that the US Mint lowered prices for a slate of other silver numismatic products.

The original price for the set was $67.95. The notice indicates that the price will be lowered by $7.00 to $60.95 per set. As of the latest sales report, customers have ordered 214,477 sets at the higher pricing.

The 2012 & 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Sets went on sale January 10, 2012 and January 8, 2013, respectively. These sets each contain five quarters struck in a composition of 90% silver, yielding silver content of 0.9042 troy ounces.

Each set was originally priced at $41.95. Prices will be lowered by $5.00 to $36.95.

The 2013 Congratulations Set went on sale on April 30, 2013. The product contains one 2013-W Proof American Silver Eagle within special packaging designed for gift-giving occasions. Sales for this product began shortly after the US Mint suspended sales of the individual proof Silver Eagle for repricing.

The set was originally priced at $64.95. It will be reduced by $5 to $59.95.

While individual silver numismatic coins have seen their prices adjusted on several occasions over the past few years, this represents the first price changes for the annual silver proof sets since March 2011. Back then, prices were raised after the price of silver had risen to around $35 per ounce. Subsequently released sets carried the same prices established at this time, even as the market price of silver ranged more than $10 per ounce higher and lower. On a few occasions, sales for the products were suspended when silver rose very quickly, but on each occasion sales were resumed without a price change after the market price of silver receded.

Sales of circulating quality 25-coin rolls, 250-coin boxes, and 500-coin boxes originally began on April 26, 2012. A little under three weeks later on May 14, 2012, sales of 100-coin bags began. Each option was available containing coins from either the Philadelphia or Denver Mints, carrying the “P” or “D” mint mark.

All eight of the product options have sold out, with the 25-coin rolls the last to go. The most recent sales figures are shown below, along with a tally of the total number of coins distributed through the products.

Of the total 3,506,175 coins distributed, there were 1,763,350 coins from the Philadelphia Mint and 1,742,825 coins from the Denver Mint. The US Mint’s reported circulating coin production figures actually show a total of 5.88 million of the coins struck. I have no explanation for the difference between the number struck and the number distributed.

Whatever the mintage level may be, it is significantly lower compared to previous issues of the series. The 2009 coin featuring the three sisters method of planting had a combined mintage of 74.9 million. This was followed by a combined mintage of 80.78 million for the 2010 Great Law of Peace design and 77.56 million for the 2011 Wampanoag Treaty design.

The higher mintages for these years were attributable to the US Mint’s Direct Ship Program, which used to allow business and consumers to order the coins at face value with no charge for shipping. The program was responsible for distributing several hundred million $1 coins, including the bulk of the mintage for Native American Dollars. The program was altered on a few occasions after reports of abuses and quietly canceled in early 2012. The end of the program closely followed the Treasury Department decision to cease production of Presidential $1 Coins for circulation.

For 2012, the only outlet for the circulating quality Native American Dollars was through numismatic bags and rolls.

Other News

The weekly numismatic product sales report is now published on Coin Update News. This report contains the opening figures for the 2013-P White Mountain National Forest Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins, which seem to have benefited from the lower pricing.

Based on the available data, it is likely that there will be another price decrease for the United States Mint’s numismatic gold products. Prices for these products are based on a gird and may be adjusted as frequently as weekly based on changes in the weekly average London Fix prices of the metal.

The average weekly price for gold is currently within the $1,350 to $1,399.99 range. This is one tier lower than the range of $1,400 to $1,499.99 which is used to establish current prices.

In the most likely scenario, as long as the Wednesday PM London Fix price is below $1,400, then a price decrease should take place. Prices would be decreased proportionally by $50 for each ounce of gold content. Price changes are usually implemented around mid-morning Wednesday.

Current numismatic gold products include the 2012 First Spouse Gold Coins, 2013 commemorative gold coins, and 2013 Proof Gold Eagles.

The lower tier would also serve to establish the price for the 2013 Proof American Gold Buffalo coin, which is scheduled for release on May 23. If the lower pricing tier goes into effect, the price of the offering would be $1,740.

The counter provides an “approximation” of the total units ordered through all active sales channels and is updated each week day (excluding Federal holidays) around 3:00 PM ET. The US Mint does disclaim the data to some extent, stating “This data is provided for informational purposes only and should not be construed to represent accepted orders or actual sales figures.”

Last year a similar counter had been in place for the 2012 San Francisco Silver Eagle Set. The last reported figure of 251,302 was subsequently adjusted downwards by more than 10% to a final unaudited total of 224,981. The reduction was presumably related to canceled orders, declined orders, product returns, orders received after the deadline but post marked before the deadline, and/or differences between the daily approximation and actual orders.

Although the data for the 2013 West Point Silver Eagle Set is not exact, it does provide a very useful indication of product demand and lends to some comparisons with the San Francisco Silver Eagle Set.

Shown below is the daily sales data for the West Point Set to date. The first number column represents the daily change, while the second number column represents the reported cumulative sales total.

After a white-hot opening of 182,773 units sold through the opening day and weekend, sales quickly calmed down in the following three days. This pattern has been typical for most US Mint numismatic offerings, with the first few days of sales providing a strong indication of how the offering will fare over the course of the period of availability.

The 2012 San Francisco Set had sold 115,059 units during the opening day and weekend. After this point, sales similarly slowed bottoming at an increase of 1,210 about ten days into the ordering window. Sales began to move up strongly in the final week of the offering, which saw the addition of 75,714 in total sales. During this final week, the daily increases were large until cumulative sales approached the 250,000 mark. At that point, the daily increases quickly fell off. (Full data from the SF Set can be found here.)

Using percentages for some of the SF Set data, the opening day and weekend sales accounted for 45.8% of the unadjusted sales total. The final week accounted for 30.1% of the unadjusted final sales total.

Will the 2013 West Point Set follow a similar trajectory? If the opening day and weekend sales account for a similar percentage of overall sales, this would put the final total close to 400,000 units.

Such a sales total might be too optimistic. The excitement of the new enhanced uncirculated finish may have driven more sales to the opening days from collectors who wanted to be among the first to receive the sets (and dealers who wanted to be the first to market the sets). If this is the case, daily sales increases for the duration of the ordering window and particularly in the final week would be lower compared to the San Francisco Set offering.

A key level to watch will be the 250,000 sales mark, which was the maximum mintage established for the 2006 20th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set. Although the enhanced uncirculated Silver Eagle will be the first of its kind, some are likely keeping tabs on how the set will fall into the mintage hierarchy of the four anniversary sets.

The reverse design by Phebe Hemphill features a view of Mt. Chocorua, the easternmost peak of the Sandwich Ridge, framed by birch trees. This was design was selected as an iconic view of the lands of the White Mountain National Forest. On the obverse is the 1932 portrait of George Washington designed by John Flanagan.

Each coin is struck in 5 troy ounces of 99.9% fine silver with a diameter of 3 inches. The United States Mint indicates that the coins carry an uncirculated finish. Previous issues of the numismatic series have featured a finish created through a vapor blasting technique applied after striking. The product images suggest this release will carry a similar finish. The coin carries the “P” mint mark for Philadelphia.

A maximum mintage of 25,000 pieces has been indicated. This is the same level that was established for the 2012-dated releases of the series, although all issues sold out with final sales at levels ranging from approximately 15,000 to 17,500. Although the US Mint specifies a maximum mintage, ultimately decisions for actual production are made based on ordering trends and estimates for demand over the product availability period.

The 2013-P White Mountain Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coins are priced at $179.95 each. This will represent the lowest price charged for any new release of this product type. In December, pricing for the 2013-dated releases had actually been published at $244.95, but new lower pricing was published earlier this month.

Over the period of availability for the first fifteen releases of the series, prices have been $279.95, $229.95, and $204.95. The Chaco Culture design was briefly available for $179.95 after a price reduction. This lower price seemed to spur a burst of demand resulting in a quick sell out of the final remaining inventory.

Bullion Release

On May 13, 2013, the United States Mint began sales of the bullion version of the 2013 White Mountain Five Ounce Silver Coin. This version does not carry a mint mark and features a brilliant finish, often appearing as proof like. The bullion coins are distributed through a network of authorized purchasers based on the market price of silver plus a fixed mark up of $9.75 per coin.

Prior to the release, the US Mint announced that the available supply would be rationed amongst the authorized purchasers, as it was presumably anticipated that demand would exceed the available supply.

Total sales for the bullion version have reached 8,900 coins as of May 14, 2013. The US Mint has not indicated the initial or anticipated production level for this year’s bullion releases. The 2012-dated releases had production ranging from 20,000 to 25,400.

During April 2013, the US Mint struck more than 1.1 billion circulating coins at the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities. This is up by 18.87% from previous month when 932 million coins were struck. It is up by an even greater 29.20% from the year ago period of April 2012 when 858 million coins were struck.

Total production for the year to date has now reached more than 4.2 billion coins. This is running more than 1 billion coins ahead of the pace of production in the previous year.

The table below shows the break down of circulating coin production for each denomination at each mint facility for the month of April, along with total production for the year to date.

The Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities struck a combined 691.2 million cents for the month. This represents the highest monthly production level since this site began tracking these figures more than four years ago. As typical, the cent accounted for more than half of overall circulating coin production.

The production of the nickel and dime were more or less within their typical monthly levels for this year. Overall production levels are running ahead of the previous year.

Quarter production shows the largest year over year gain. As discussed in previous articles, after years of striking only minimal numbers of America the Beautiful Quarters, levels have finally increased signifying demand from Federal Reserve Banks for newly minted quarters.

A minimal number of Kennedy Half Dollars were struck during the month. These will be offered by the United States Mint in numismatic bags and rolls scheduled for release in June.

Small numbers of Presidential Dollars were also struck. These coins are no longer produced for circulation, but only distributed by the US Mint at a premium to face value.

New production figures have been provided by design for the America the Beautiful Quarters and Presidential Dollars.

The Perry’s Victory Quarter shows total production of 239.40 million, divided as 131.60 million coins at Denver and 107.80 million coins at Philadelphia. The William Howard Taft Dollar shows total production of 8.12 million, divided as 3.36 million coins at Denver and 4.76 million coins at Philadelphia.

As mentioned in the past, these production totals by design should be considered preliminary until the close of the year. In the past, the US Mint has reserved the right to restart production based on demand and production capacity.

Numismatic Gold Coin Price Decrease Possible

Based on the available data, it is possible that the prices for the US Mint’s numismatic gold products may be adjusted lower tomorrow. Prices for these products are based on a gird and may be adjusted as frequently as weekly based on changes in the weekly average London Fix prices of the metal.

The average weekly London Fix price of gold is currently within the $1,400 to $1,449.99 range, which compares to the range of $1,450 to $1,499.99 used to establish current prices.

In the most likely scenario, as long as the Wednesday PM London Fix price is below the $1,450 level, then a price decrease should take place. Prices would be adjusted lower proportionally by $50 for each ounce of gold content.

The impacted products would include the 2012 First Spouse Gold Coins, 2013 commemorative gold coins, and 2013 Proof Gold Eagles. Weekly price changes have usually been implemented around mid-morning Wednesday.

Each cover includes two Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Dollars sourced from the first day of production at the Philadelphia and Denver Mint facilities. These coins are mounted on a display card and placed within an envelope illustrated with a portrait of the President and carrying a 46-cent Patriotic Star stamp. The cover carries a post mark of May 9, 2013, New York, NY, representing the first day the product was available to the public.

The covers are priced at $19.95 each. The product limit is established at 22,000 units. This is higher than the 20,000 product limit established for the previous William McKinley $1 Coin Cover.

Based on the increased product limit, the US Mint seems to expect the Theodore Roosevelt coin cover to be more popular than the others released for this year. Back in 2007, the US Mint had also established a higher limit for the Abraham Lincoln coin cover compared to the other releases for the year.

Now at its 26th overall release, the American Presidency $1 Coin Cover series has seen its product limit continually ratcheted downwards over the years.

The 2007 covers each carried limits of 50,000 units and sell outs were achieved for the first three releases. The limit was lowered to 40,000 units for the 2009 covers, and 32,000 units for the 2010 covers with the exception of the Abraham Lincoln cover which carried a limit of 37,000 units. The limit was lowered to 22,000 for the 2011 covers. For 2013, it seems that the covers will have limits of 20,000 with the exception of Theodore Roosevelt at 22,000.

The pace of orders for the set was so heavy yesterday that for a brief period of time the US Mint’s online catalog went offline and displayed the following message:

The United States Mint is experiencing technical difficulties. During this time period, you will not be able to use the website. To place an order please call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). We apologize for the inconvenience.

Shortly afterwards, the US Mint released the following statement indicating that the online catalog “has not stopped working” and encouraged customers to try to place their orders later.

Our online catalog has not stopped working. However, because of the large number of customers attempting to place orders for the American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set, you may experience delays. This product will be on sale through June 6 and there is no mintage limit, so try later when the site is not experiencing so much traffic. We apologize for the inconvenience and appreciate your patience.

The new enhanced uncirculated finish and the fact that the two coins will remain exclusive to the 2013 West Point Silver Eagle Set has clearly generated significant excitement with collectors. Since the product will be minted to demand based on orders received during the four week ordering window, this excitement will translate into a higher eventual mintage for the coins.

So far, the pace of orders for the West Point Set is well ahead of last year’s San Francisco Set, which had reached orders of 85,341 by the end of the first day. Eventually sales for this set reached 251,302, which was subsequently adjusted lower to 224,981. I recorded the entire history of daily sales changes in this post.

As mentioned yesterday, the mintage levels for the other special Silver Eagle sets were 248,875 for the 20th Anniversary Set and 100,000 for the 25th Anniversary Set. If the pace of orders remains high for the West Point Set, it may end up with the highest mintage of the four anniversary sets.

This special coin will be issued to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the design created by James Earle Fraser for the the Buffalo Nickel, which was minted for circulation from 1913 to 1938. The obverse features the portrait of a Native American created based on a composite of real life subjects. The reverse features an iconic image of an American Bison or “buffalo” believed to be based on Black Diamond of the Central Park Zoo.

The popular design has been used for a commemorative silver dollar issued in 2001 and for the 24 karat gold bullion and collector coin series launched in 2006.

At this time, some preliminary information is available about the 2013 Reverse Proof Gold Buffalo. The coin will be sold separately- not within a set as previously proposed within a customer survey distributed in late 2012. It will be packaged in the same wood box as the regular Proof Gold Buffalo, however the outer box will feature a leather-like material to differentiate the product.

The reverse proof coins will be minted to demand at the West Point Mint. An on-sale date has not yet been established. The regular proof coin is currently scheduled for release on May 23, 2013.

According to the Mint, the price for the reverse proof Gold Buffalo will be determined based on the pricing structure for products containing gold and platinum. This means that the price level will be based on the average market price of gold and may fluctuate weekly. The current pricing grid can be found here. I am trying to confirm whether both the reverse proof and regular proof coins will be priced based on the column “American Buffalo 24K Gold Proof” or whether a new column will be created specifically for the reverse proof coins.