2009 Lincoln Cent Professional Life Two Roll Set Sales

Sales numbers for the opening few days of sales for the latest 2009 Lincoln Cent Two Roll Set featuring the "Professional Life" design came in surprisingly strong at 152,146 sets. Although this is about 25% less than the opening weekend sales recorded for the prior design, many were expecting a much larger decline.

The table below shows the opening weekend sales for each of the three 2009 Lincoln Cent Two Rolls Sets that have been offered so far, as well as the final sales numbers for the first two releases.

2009 Lincoln Cent Two Roll Set Sales

	Opening Weekend Sales	Final Sales
Birthplace LP1	63,772	96,000
Formative Years LP2	200,055	300,000
Professional Life LP3	152,146	?

When the first set featuring the Birthplace design (LP1) was announced, many collectors had been put off by the high premium over face value that the US Mint was charging for the sets. Each set contained only $1.00 face value in coins, but was priced at $8.95 plus shipping and handling. Despite the premiums, 63,772 sets were ordered on the opening weekend, and the set sold out less than two weeks later after 96,000 sets had been sold. After the sold out LP1 set started selling for big premiums on eBay, many re-evaluated the offering and jumped on the series.

When the Formative Years (LP2) set went on sale, the US Mint's website was bogged down with heavy traffic from a rush of orders placed during the first hour of sales. The opening weekend sales were eventually revealed to be more than double the total number of LP1 sets sold. By the time the LP2 set sold out, the total number of sets sold was more than triple the previous release.

Reports from readers indicated that orders for the latest Professional Life (Lp3) design could be could be placed without any delay on the US Mint's website, even in the opening few minutes. This seemed to suggest a significantly slower pace of sales than the prior release. However, this time around collectors may have taken advantage of the US Mint's subscription program for the offering. The urgency to order in the opening minutes was also reduced, since the last set remained available for several months.

How many LP3 sets will the US Mint sell in total? If the product allotment is the same as the prior set, I think the Mint has an outside chance of reaching the 300,000 mark for a second time. However, a more conservative guess of 225,000 - 250,000 sets seems more likely.