Proofs in demand

This article was originally printed in the latest issue of Numismatic News.
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Collectors eagerly grabbed 273,212 proof silver American Eagle coins in the opening two days of sales.

The 2010 pieces became available at noon Eastern Standard Time Nov. 19, and as expected, a crush of initial buyers, slowed response times on the U.S. Mint’s website and generated busy signals on the telephone order lines for the first several hours.

Readers of Numismatic News reported delays of between 15 minutes and two and a half hours.

Anticipating this potential bottleneck, the Mint had posted a message at its website prior to the beginning of sales warning users to expect some delays.

The Mint compiled its initial sales statistics as of Nov. 21.

Some of the buyer enthusiasm can be attributed to pent-up demand after no proofs were struck in 2009. Also, silver bullion has been rising steadily, increasing interest in all silver coins.

Price of the 2010 proof silver American Eagle is $45.95 each. There is a $4.95 shipping and handling charge for all orders.

The coins are struck with a mirror surface with frosted relief at West Point and the coins carry a “W” mintmark.

Orders can be placed at www.usmint.gov, or by telephoning (800) USA-MINT. There is a 100-coin per household order limit.

Though specific numbers were not available, by Nov. 23, the Mint website posted notice that buyers could expect delivery Jan. 6, 2011, roughly a month later than what was posted in the first couple of days of sales.