A recap of the event and plenty of pictures can be found in a separate article on Coin Update News:
Hot Springs National Park Quarter Launch Ceremony and Coin Exchange.
In this Mint News Blog post, I will provide some additional details about the coin exchange and some information about the America the Beautiful Silver Bullion Coins that was revealed at the coin collector forum held the evening before.
The coin exchange was conducted by Bank of America and the coins had the "D" mint mark for Denver. Prior to the event, the limit for the exchange was stated as $100 per person, with multiple passes through the exchange line allowed. At the actual event, attendees were able to exchange for greater amounts than the limit. The exchange was eventually stopped even though there were still quarters left available, with the remaining coins retained by Bank of America.
Other than the ceremony program and some cardboard fans, the park did not create or offer any type of special commemorative product. Before the ceremony, I was hoping that the park might create something unique incorporating the coins, but unfortunately they did not.
A special USPS cancellation designed by Chuck Taylor was available. The cancellation was only offered for the day of the launch ceremony. This was a change from the special cancellation created for the 2010 Lincoln Cent launch ceremony, which remained available for 30 days after the event.
So far eBay sales activity seems to be relatively subdued for Hot Springs Quarter Rolls, with less than 50 active listings. Unmarked rolls are selling for around $15 each. There is a stamped and canceled roll listed with a Buy it Now price of $18.50, but most canceled rolls are priced higher. Here are the current eBay auctions.
Update (4/22/2010): Here's a close up picture of the new Hot Springs Quarter. Click for larger size. Photo contributed by Gene Clayton.
At the coin collector forum held the evening before the ceremony, US Mint Director Edmund Moy provided some updated details on the America the Beautiful 5 oz. Silver Coins. These over-sized bullion coins will have a diameter of 3 inches and feature designs that are exact duplicates of each quarter.
The US Mint was having difficultly applying the legislatively required edge lettering to the extremely thin coins, but they have now "figured it out" and are back on track. The anticipated release date provided at the forum was "mid-summer."
There is one final piece of information that I wanted to provide related to the Hot Springs America the Beautiful Quarter bags and rolls offered by the US Mint. A reader "JA" noticed that the product pages state that the bags and rolls will be available for one year after the initial release date.
This is a major change from previous practice for quarter bags and rolls. In the past, as each subsequent quarter was released, sales of bags and rolls would end for the previous quarter. In order to keep each release available for an entire year, the US Mint must be holding back a big portion of the mintage to ensure adequate supplies for numismatic sales. I will try to get more information on this for a future post.
More Coin Update News:
New $100 Bill Design Unveiled
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