2009 cents scarcer when counted by roll

There was no rush by bulk coin buyers to purchase the Braille commemorative silver dollars last week. These coins were put into the bulk program five months early. Usually this action is taken near the end of a commemorative run to clean out remaining supplies. That the Mint wants the cleaning out process to begin quicker probably tells us all we need to know about the program.

Come to think of it, looking at the numbers, there was hardly any evidence of any interest in buying anything except American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins. There was an increase of 17,500 gold coins this week and the silver version vaulted by 800,000 coins.

The boxes have been somewhat redesigned this week to remove the last five state quarter First Day Covers. Sales are over. The final numbers were published last week.

Added this week are the mintage totals for the 2009 Lincoln cents. Collectors can compare the numbers and perhaps zero in on the potentially scarcer issues. Though truth to tell, the totals are not particularly low, but offsetting that is the fact that the online secondary market is trading them by 50-coin rolls. Dividing the lowest mintage of 284,400,000 by 50 yields a figure of 5,688,000, which is not that much higher than proof set totals over the last 30 years. Collectors certainly have the money to buy the entire issue. Shades of the 1931-S cent.