Louis Braille Silver Dollar Sales End Tomorrow

United States Mint sales of 2009 Louis Braille Bicentennial Silver Dollar products will end tomorrow, December 11, 2009 at 5:00 PM ET. Products current available include the individual proof, individual uncirculated in standard or easy open capsule, and the Braille Education Set.

The Louis Braille Silver Dollar first went on sale March 26, 2009. The offering came admidst some of the excitement surrounding this year's Abraham Lincoln Silver Dollar, which sold out of the individual options around the same time. More recently, the Braille Education Set went on sale October 8, 2009, providing a boost to sales.

As of the last weekly sales report, a total of 217,874 Louis Braille Silver Dollars have been sold across all options. This represents 54.5% of the maximum authorized mintage of 400,000. The breakdown by product option appears below.

Louis Braille Commemorative Silver Dollar Sales
Proof	135,235
Uncirculated	48,863
Uncirculated Easy Open	23,078
Braille Education Set	10,698
Total	217,874

The mintage totals are probably high end to keep any short term premiums from developing after the end of sales. That is, unless collectors start paying a premium for the lower production Braille Education Set. This year's Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set, which was limited to 50,000 units, continues to demand a significant premium over the cost of the coins contained in the set.

One interesting observation about the sales figures for the Louis Braille coin is the split between uncirculated and proof mintage. The proof coins, which were only available individually, sold 135,235 coins so far. The uncirculated coins, available individually in two different options or in the special set, sold a total of 82,639. Typically, the proof version of commemorative coin releases outsells the uncirculated version by more than a two to one margin.

On a final note, after the end of sales for the Louis Braille coins, the United States Mint will be left with just one silver dollar coin available for sale on its website. This will be the 2008-W Uncircualted Silver Eagle, which is included in the 2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Set. This product originally went on sale August 7, 2008 and has sold 91,116 sets to date.

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