The United States Mint sold out of the uncirculated Buchanan’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coin earlier this week. It had been on sale a little more than six months — they launched on September 2, 2010.
As of Sunday, April 12, 2011, collectors had scooped up 5,364 of uncirculated Buchanan’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins. This figure may change before the final audited number is reported. The uncirculated version debuted at $766 and reached $866 by the time it sold out. The price increased due to the rising cost of gold.
The companion proof Buchanan’s Liberty sold out months ago, on February 8, 2011. At last count, its sales figure was 7,304. The combined total of both the proof and uncirculated hit 84.4% of the original published maximum mintage of 15,000.
The early sell out was not a huge surprise. The United States Mint had slowly been removing older First Spouse Gold Coins during the last few months as well. Both versions of the Jane Pierce gold coins and the uncirculated Abigail Fillmore were were pulled in March.
Prior to this year, sales for one design would end when the authorized mintage was reached, like it did for the first three issues in 2007, or more often the design had been on the market for about a year and was pulled when a new release replaced it.
Although the reign has ended for Buchanan’s gold coins, it should be noted that the United States Mint is still selling Buchanan’s Liberty Bronze Medal and the 2010 James Buchanan Presidential $1 Coin & First Spouse Medal Set.
The design used to honor Buchanan in the First Spouse Gold Coin Series was that of "Lady Liberty." Since there were a few early Presidents who served their term without a first spouse, such as James Buchanan, the image emblematic of Liberty as depicted on a circulating coin of that era was used in the place of a portrait of a first lady. In Buchanan’s case, the coin’s obverse features a reproduction of the Liberty Head Quarter Eagle designed by Christian Gobrecht.
The reverse side of his coins shows an image of President Buchanan as a young man working as a bookkeeper in his family’s small country store. It was designed by David Westwood.
There were a total of four Liberty Subset First Spouse Gold Coins:
- 2007 Jefferson’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins
- 2008 Jackson’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins
- 2008 Van Buren First Spouse Gold Coins
- 2010 Buchanan’s Liberty First Spouse Gold Coins
There are only three spouse coins that remain available for purchase as of this writing. They are the proof and uncirculated 2010 Mary Todd Lincoln coins as well as the proof 2010 Abigail Fillmore coins.
The next round of First Spouse Gold Coins will be hitting the market shortly. Below is a list of the four 2011 coins and their tentatively scheduled release dates:
- Eliza Johnson First Spouse Gold Coins – Thursday, May 5, 2011
- Julia Grant First Spouse Gold Coins – Thursday, June 2, 2011
- Lucy Hayes First Spouse Gold Coins – Thursday, September 1, 2011
- Lucretia Garfield First Spouse Gold Coins – Thursday, December 1, 2011
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