2009-W Uncircualted Gold Eagles Canceled

The United States Mint expanded its line of collectible American Gold Eagle coins in 2006. They introduced the collectible uncirculated Gold Eagle, sometimes referred to as “Burnished Gold Eagles.” These coins are struck on specially burnished blanks and carry the “W” mint mark. As opposed to bullion coins, these were sold directly by the US Mint and not through the network of authorized bullion dealers.

Coins were issued in 2006, 2007, and 2008 with low or declining mintages, making some coins secondary market winners. The 2008-W $10 Gold Eagle had a mintage of only 9,200 coins, the lowest for any American Gold Eagle coin.

For all three years, the US Mint had offered the coins in 1 oz, 1/2 oz, 1/4 oz, and 1/2 oz sizes. Additionally, a 4 coin set was available which contained one of each weight.

Near the end of 2008, the US Mint announced that the fractional weight coins and 4 coin set would be discontinued at the end of the year. The US Mint tentatively planned to produced only the 1 oz. 2009-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle.

These plans slowly unraveled in the following year. The US Mint announced in March that production of the collectible 2009 Gold Eagle was “temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins.” Because the US Mint was required to produce these coins in quantities sufficient to meet public demand, they were sourcing all incoming 22 karat gold blanks to the production of bullion coins, rather than collector coins. The US Mint did not issue any updates on the situation during the course of the year.

Finally, last week the US Mint announced that the 2009-W Uncirculated Gold Eagle was canceled, along with several other collectible Gold and Silver Eagle products. With the demand for precious metal bullion coins continuing, the future of this product remains in doubt. The US Mint states that they will attempt to build a supply of precious metals blanks for the production of 2010 Gold Eagle collector coins.