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Markets, mints, and metals — independent reporting and analysis for gold and silver collectors and investors.

What Are the 2026 Semiquincentennial Coins? A Full Guide

Pull a handful of change out of your pocket this month and look at the dates. If a dime, a quarter, or a half dollar reads “1776 ~ 2026” instead of a single year, you are holding a piece of the broadest circulating redesign the U.S. Mint has attempted since the Bicentennial. Nearly every denomination […]

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Thomas Albrecht September 13, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

What Is the American Palladium Eagle? A 5,000-Coin Sellout

The order window opened at noon Eastern on September 3. About eight minutes later, the U.S. Mint’s newest precious metals coin was unavailable. Buyers took 4,778 of the 5,000 authorized 2026-W American Eagle palladium coins, roughly 96 percent of the entire issue, and the Mint’s sales report published on September 9 confirmed the count. Palladium […]

Thomas Albrecht Sep 9, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

The Gold Donald Trump Coin With No Gold

Editor’s Note A gold-colored U.S. dollar just created the kind of collector frenzy that makes headlines, with one small catch: there isn’t any gold in it. That’s not a scandal. But it is a perfect lesson in the difference between collectible value, precious-metal value, and marketing value, three things buyers had better learn not to […]

Thomas Albrecht Sep 6, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

The America the Beautiful Quarters Program: A Retrospective

For twelve years, the loose change in American pockets carried a rotating gallery of national parks, forests, and historic sites. The America the Beautiful quarters program ran from 2010 through 2021, and by the time it wrapped up it had put 56 different reverse designs into circulation, one for every state, the District of Columbia, […]

Thomas Albrecht Sep 1, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

The Presidential Dollar Coins Program: A Retrospective

In 2007 the U.S. Mint set out to do for the presidency what the 50 State Quarters had done for the map: put a rotating cast of familiar faces into everyday pockets and get the country collecting again. The quarters worked. The presidential dollar coins did not, at least not the way Congress hoped. What […]

Thomas Albrecht Aug 29, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

The 50 State Quarters Program: A 10-Year Retrospective

Reach into a jar of loose change and there is a fair chance you will find one. For ten years, from 1999 through 2008, the United States Mint released a new quarter every ten weeks or so, each one carrying a different state on its back. Kids filled cardboard folders with them. Parents who had […]

Thomas Albrecht Aug 19, 2026

Market Updates & Premiums

The Silver Eagle Shortage Nobody Is Watching Yet

Silver Eagles aren't disappearing from America's coin shops - not yet. But new-coin flow from the U.S. Mint has slowed dramatically, including a zero print in May, and today's inventory churn could become tomorrow's premium problem.

Jacob Barton Aug 12, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

How the U.S. Mint Decides Which Coins to Make

Ask most people where a new coin comes from and they picture engravers at the Mint sketching ideas and picking winners. The reality runs the other way. The United States Mint makes coins, but with very few exceptions it does not choose which ones. That decision belongs to Congress, and the road a coin travels […]

Thomas Albrecht Aug 6, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

What Is the Enhanced Uncirculated Silver Eagle?

On July 21, the U.S. Mint opened orders for the 2026 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Enhanced Uncirculated Coin, a one-year-only issue tied to the country’s 250th birthday. If you have been trying to sort out where it fits among the bullion coins, proofs, and privy-marked releases stacking up this year, here is the plain […]

Thomas Albrecht Jul 24, 2026

New Issues & Mint News

After Years of Drift, the U.S. Mint Gets a Real Numismatist

🧭 Editor’s Note: The U.S. Mint has been drifting without a steady hand — long on optics, short on coin sense. With Paul Hollis confirmed as Mint Director, that era may finally be ending. In this breakdown, I’ll explain who Hollis really is, why his background matters, and why this appointment is a sharp course…

Jacob Barton Dec 19, 2025

New Issues & Mint News

The Final U.S. Penny: Historic Sendoff or Auction-House Theater?

Editor’s Note:The penny didn’t die quietly — it went out in a blaze of headlines, gold plating, and six-figure auction bids. In this breakdown, Jacob Barton cuts through the nostalgia and auction hype to explain what those $16.7 million “last pennies” really represent… and what they absolutely do not mean for everyday collectors and investors.…

Jacob Barton Dec 17, 2025

New Issues & Mint News

The 1776–2026 Silver Eagle Is Real — The Question Is What You’ll Pay for the Privy

Editor’s Note:The Mint is dangling a shiny new anniversary carrot — a dual-dated Silver Eagle with a Liberty Bell privy — and the crowd is already lining up. Before you sprint to the checkout button, Jacob Barton breaks down what’s actually scarce, what’s just dressed up, and where collectors usually overpay when symbolism meets subscription…

Jacob Barton Dec 6, 2025

New Issues & Mint News

The 2025 Morgan & Peace Reverse Proof Set: Solid Coins, Softer Signals

Editor’s Note:The U.S. Mint rolled out its 2025-S Morgan & Peace Reverse Proof set with plenty of hype and solid early sales — but slower than last year. Jacob Barton breaks down what those numbers actually mean, why “sellouts” don’t equal profits, and how collectors can avoid mistaking Mint marketing for real market demand. The…

Jacob Barton Dec 5, 2025

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