Will the collectible proof version of the American Gold Eagle be issued by the United States Mint this year? The demand trends for the bullion version of the coin combined with some recent statements by the US Mint Director suggest that the coins are likely.
By law, the US Mint must produce gold and silver bullion coins from the American Eagle bullion coin program in quantities sufficient to meet public demand. There are no requirements for producing or issuing collector versions of the coins. This caused problems last year, when the US Mint was not able to satisfy demand for bullion coins. They deemed it necessary to source all incoming precious metals blank supplies to the production of bullion coins and forgo production of collector coins.
This year, demand for bullion 2010 Gold Eagles is running below last year. The US Mint has also stopped allocation programs, implying that they have been meeting full public demand. The fractional versions of the coin were also issued in early June. By satisfying demand and issuing all bullion versions, the US Mint seems to have set the stage for legally producing the collectible proof and uncirculated 2010 Gold Eagles.
At a House subcommittee hearing, US Mint Director Edmund Moy discussed a possible change in law that would allow the production of 2010 Proof Silver Eagles even though full demand for bullion coins was not being met. Notably, he did not mention such a change in law for Gold Eagles, suggesting that production could take place under current law.
Unless there is a sudden and dramatic surge in demand for gold bullion before the end of the year, the chances for 2010 Proof Gold Eagles now seem good.
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[...] not been offered by the United States Mint, although prospects seem favorable for the issuance of Proof 2010 Gold Eagles later this [...]