United States Mint Raises UHR Order Limit
Starting on July 27, 2009, the United States Mint raised the ordering limit on the 2009 Ultra High Relief Double Eagle Gold Coin from one per household to ten per household.
The UHR originally went on sale January 22, 2009 with the strict ordering limit of one per customer. The limit had remained in place for nearly six months, even after weekly sales levels fell from the early frantic pace to the relatively sedate level of less than 1,000 coins per week.
To date, there have been approximately 70,000 Ultra High Relief Double Eagles sold by the United States Mint. This is a considerable amount considering that each coin cost around $1,200 depending on the price of gold.
Raising the order limit might have some interesting impacts on the current and future market for the coin. By allowing each customer to purchase one coin, the US Mint had been supporting a secondary market premium since some customers would invariably want more than one coin and were willing to pay for the privilege. Will this current market sputter?
As for the future value of the coin, the current sales of 70,000 were suggesting a final mintage around 100,000. With the limits raised, will more coins be ordered, implying a much higher final mintage? Although the demand for this unique coin will likely always remain strong, will a vastly higher mintage keep a lid on long term appreciation?
As weekly sales figures for the time periods with higher ordering limits are released, we will have a better idea of just how much the ordering limit had been impacting the pace of sales and a better idea of the answers to the questions raised above.
