Guam quarter bags start off with a bang

Sales of bags and rolls of Guam quarters hit the charts here with a bang. And these numbers were recorded before the news arrived that the Guam quarters now hold the position of scarcest of the three 2009 design

Sales of bags and rolls of Guam quarters hit the charts here with a bang. And these numbers were recorded before the news arrived that the Guam quarters now hold the position of scarcest of the three 2009 designs.

Not only has the Denver Guam become the scarcest of the year, but the Philadelphia issue is the second scarcest.

Beginning sales of the 1,000-coin bags are already higher than the final numbers for Puerto Rico. The other options are more routine so far, but it will pay to watch these.

I was at an Iola Lions meeting this week. Lions are Helen Keller’s knights of the blind and news of the Braille commemoratives have worked their way through the organization. Will this hype sales? Judging by the reaction of members, I would expect not.

Under the heading of no good deed goes unpunished, the Letitia Tyler lines in the First Spouse box will stand empty for a while longer as sales have been postponed. Usually I don’t add a line on this page until sales actually start. I probably won’t do it again.

Gold American Eagle sales edged up by 2,000 coins and the silver version jumped by 302,500.

Rolls of John Tyler Presidential dollars have now sold out. 30,000 seems to be the new ceiling for Presidential dollar rolls. With successive sellouts, perhaps the Mint has hit upon a success formula.