9 December 2008 - 10:56Martin Van Buren’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Initial Sales Figures
The sales figures for the latest release of the First Spouse Gold Coin Series are encouraging. The latest coin honoring Martin Van Buren’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coin was released on November 25, 2008.
The sales figures through November 30, 2008 show 2,845 proof coins and 1,603 uncirculated coins sold. This makes a total of 4,448 coins altogether. While this is a very far cry from the one day sell outs for the first three issues of the series, this is a stronger initial performance than other recent releases.
The reason for some of the renewed interest in the series might be the design of the coin, which is taken from Christian Gobrecht’s Liberty Seated Dime. Even though, arguably less creative than brand new designs, these classic designs often strike a chord with many collectors. Previous First Spouse Gold coins that have re-used classic designs also include Thomas Jefferson’s Liberty and the recent Andrew Jackson’s Liberty.
These “Liberty” series coins might one day be viewed as an interesting subset of the First Spouse Gold coin series. For President’s who served their terms in office without a spouse, the obverse designs are taken from circulating coins of their era. The next coin which will re-use a classic design will be James Buchanan’s Liberty, slated for 2010 release.
A second reason for the renewed interest in the series might be the lower pricing. The US Mint recently repriced all 2008 First Spouse Gold coins to levels more appropriate for the current price of gold. The latest coins were released at the same price levels.
It will be interesting to continue monitoring First Spouse Gold releases to see if the latest coin does in fact represent a shift in collector perspective and a renewed interest in the series.
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