Mint set sales open at fast pace

Hobbyists of a speculative frame of mind are watching demand for the 2009 uncirculated coin set very closely.

Have you ordered yours yet?

This set includes the four designs of the 2009 Philadelphia and Denver Lincoln cents in copper. The set is the only way to get the copper version of the coins from those two minting facilities. The proof copper collector cents are from San Francisco. The strikes for use in commerce are copper-coated zinc.

The first sales numbers from the U.S. Mint for the 2009 mint set do show a significant uptick in demand.

Sales began Oct. 1 and as of Oct. 11, the Mint had sold 392,007 sets.

In comparison, the first rush of sales for the 2008 set reached only 234,762. When sales ended, for the 2008 set, the total take by collectors was only 745,464.

Already then, sales have reached more than half of the total of the 2008 set.

Going back to 2007, the sales of the uncirculated coin set reached 907,886.

If the Mint is using the sales numbers for the 2007 and 2008 sets as a production guide, we could witness a rapid sellout of the 2009 uncirculated coin set.

If additional production remains an option, it seems clear that sales likely will jump over the million mark fairly easily.

Nothing is ever certain, but it would seem that overall interest will at least be enough to carry demand to the nice, round million mark.

In any case, this set is worth watching a little more closely than collectors have been used to.

Call it another gift to us from the Year of Lincoln.