Monday, May 11, 2009


The First Spouse Gold Coins continue to be the only gold coins on sale at the US Mint besides the Ultra High Relief Double Eagle, which is limited to one per household. Despite being the "only game in town" sales continue to move higher at a very slow pace.

Since I last examined the sales figures for the series, the numbers have crept higher for three issues and the Anna Harrison coin has gone on sale. The italicized lines indicate coins that are still currently for sale at the US Mint.

First Spouse Gold Coin Sales History

Unc Proof Total
Martha Washington 20,000 20,000 40,000
Abigail Adams 20,000 20,000 40,000
Jefferson's Liberty 20,000 20,000 40,000
Dolley Madison 12,541 18,355 30,896
Elizabeth Monroe 4,519 7,933 12,452
Louisa Adams 3,509 6,233 9,742
Jackson's Liberty 3,879 6,850 10,729
Van Buren's Liberty 3,080 5,669 8,749
Anna Harrison 1,983 3,993 5,976

Sales figures that would be surprisingly low for other series have become somewhat expected for the First Spouse Gold series. Just before the Elizabeth Monroe coin went off sale at the US Mint, I had written a post noting that the uncirculated version would have the lowest mintage for any modern gold coin issued by the US Mint. Despite this fact, the coins have not seemed to catch much excitement on the secondary market.

While the supply of the coins on the market appears to be very low- there are only two coins currently listed on eBay- the demand for the coins remains equally low, keeping prices at reasonable levels. Collectors may also be justifiably expecting even lower mintages from future issues of the series. This is supported by sales trends which suggest all current coins might fall beneath the low bar set by the Elizabeth Monroe coin sales numbers. The question may be, how low can mintages go?

Collectors considering the First Spouse Gold Coin series should be aware of two near term events. First, the price of the coins will likely increase this week. Under the US Mint's current pricing policy, if the average London Fix price of gold from last Thursday AM to this Wednesday PM falls into the $900 to $949.99 range prices for the coins will move to the next tier. The current prices of $591 for uncirculated and $604 would be increased to $614 and $629.

The second near term event is the impending end of sales for the Louisa Adams First Spouse Gold Coins. These coins first went on sale May 29, 2008. The US Mint keeps First Spouse coins on sale for approximately one year or until the maximum authorized mintage is met. The uncirculated coin has only sold 3,509 coins. If the final sales number remains under 4,000, will this be enough to start drawing interest from collectors?

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