By Hubert Walker for CoinWeek ….
At noon Eastern Standard Time on Tuesday, June 30, the 2015 Harry S. Truman Coin & Chronicles Set (product code: AX1) went on sale at the United States Mint.
15 minutes later, it was sold out.
In a July 1 note that seemed to anticipate much of the commentary of the last several days, Deputy Director of the Mint’s Office of Corporate Communications Adam Stump explained that the Mint had based its production limit of 17,000 on sales of the previous two Coin & Chronicles sets. The 2013 Theodore Roosevelt Coin & Chronicles Set sold 15,141 units. The 2014 Franklin D. Roosevelt Coin & Chronicles Set had sold 13,255 out of a maximum production limit of 20,000 units by the time of the Truman set’s release.
What the notice did not address, however, was the fact that the Truman set includes a Reverse Proof Harry S. Truman Presidential $1 coin–the first of its kind for the Presidential $1 coin series.
Reverse Proofs have a proven track record as a popular product option. Ever since the 2006-P American Silver Eagle was included in the 20th Anniversary Silver Eagle three-coin set, Reverse Proof Eagles continue to sell well every year they are minted.
And the 2015 March of Dimes Special Silver Set, which included the first Reverse Proof Roosevelt dime produced by the United States Mint, went on backorder within one hour of its release and was officially sold out within a few days.
The Truman Coin & Chronicles Set sold 16,780 units before its availability status changed to “Unavailable” on the U.S. Mint’s website at around 12:15 p.m. All orders accepted up until that time will be processed on a first-come, first-served basis.
No date has been set for when the Mint will have new stock available. Interested collectors may visit the Mint’s online catalog and sign up to receive an email reminder when new orders are being taken.
Additional 2015 Presidential $1 Coin & Chronicles sets will be available later in the year. The Dwight D. Eisenhower Coin & Chronicles Set goes on sale August 11. Sales for the John F. Kennedy Coin & Chronicles Set open at noon on September 15, and the Lyndon B. Johnson Coin & Chronicles Set will be available in October. All are priced at $57.95 USD. Each set will contain its own exclusive Reverse Proof Presidential $1 coin.
A product limit of 17,000 has been established for the Eisenhower and Johnson sets, while the Kennedy set has a production limit of 25,000 (as of the date of this article’s publication). An order limit of five per household is currently in effect for each set.
CoinWeek will keep you updated as the Mint makes further announcements.
The best question is, “Since the Dwight Eisenhower Coin & Chronicles Set goes on sale exactly one hour after the Chicago ANA ribbon gets cut, and at the same instant the Acting Director of the Mint will hold a ‘signing event’ at said ANA show, how many of the 17,000 sets are put aside for sales at the show?”
i tried to order an eisenhower set today. i was on the website at 12pm exactly, every time i hit the place order button, nothing would happen. i tried my other computer and the same thing happened. i tried checking out as a guest and the same thing. i tried calling on the phone and the line was busy until around 1 pm. the mint needs to come up with a better system for ordering when they have low mintage items like this. i am a collector that wanted 1 set and i could not even get that. i went on ebay at 12:30 and they were already for sale on there for 200 or more and some were presale. how do these people know they are going to get sets to sell. this whole thing is ridiculous