Third Lincoln roll set start slower than second

The third in the sequence of two-roll Lincoln cent sets has made its debut and the second one has gone off sale.

For the new issue, sales in the first three days were 152,146. This is down roughly 25 percent from the sales rate registered for the second two-roll set, which hit 200,055 in the first three days after its launch in May. Of course, both of these are far ahead of the 96,000 sales recorded for the first two-roll set, which sold out in approximately two weeks.

Will the current Lincoln offering sell out? It is probably too early to tell. Certainly it could run out of gas, but we must keep in mind that the autumn collecting season and the usual uptick in hobby interest levels that accompanies it begins shortly.

Sales of the Ultra High Relief Saint-Gaudens gold $20 jumped another 2,901 to 80,700. This is a faster pace than that recorded for last week. Can it continue at this pace without a Mint booth at a major coin show? We will see. Certainly collectors will keep an eye on the gold bullion market and the declining number of days left in 2009.

Collectors who want to see proof examples of the American Eagles should root for a continuing drop in bullion coin sales, because that gives the U.S. Mint both the resources and the opportunity to roll out the special collector versions all the sooner.

Braille commems sell very slowly.