The Lowest Mintage Dollar Coins in 111 years

Owner of MonsterCoinMart

Contributing Author: Mitchell Spivack

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THESE 2015 EISENHOWER REVERSE PROOFS SOLD OUT IN 14 MINUTES – AT THE TIME, THE FASTEST SELLOUT IN U.S. MINT HISTORY

The morning these rare coins went on sale, it was utter chaos. The U.S. Mint website crashed. Shopping carts were emptied when customers tried to check out. Even with these complications, the Eisenhower Reverse Proofs of 2015 sold out in just 14 minutes! At the time, it was the fastest sellout of any coin in the history of the U.S. Mint.

In 2007, the U.S. Mint kicked off the Presidential Dollar program, offering four Presidential Dollar coins per year, starting with George Washington. For the first 8 years, these coins were numismatic junk because the Mint churned them out by the boxcar load. Tens of millions to as many as 150 million coins of each president were struck. The Mint even had to construct a gigantic new warehouse in Maryland just to hold the nearly 1,400,000,000 unsold coins!

Then, late in the summer of 2015, the Mint turned the numismatic world upside down by minting a new Presidential Dollar coin with a staggeringly low mintage of only 17,000. Not only that, but these rare Presidential Dollars were beautiful new Reverse Proofs which greatly enhanced their desirability for collectors.

These coins were released in what the Mint referred to as “Coin and Chronicles” sets. In addition to the Reverse Proof Dollar coin, these Coin and Chronicles sets also came with a commemorative silver medal and a collectable stamp. The first of these low-mintage Reverse Proofs was for the ever-popular President Truman.

Every Truman Reverse Proof ever minted would fit in my carry-on bag

When word leaked out that the mintage for the Truman Reverse Proof Dollar would be so small, there was a stampede to buy these coins. The Mint’s phone system was overwhelmed. Almost no one was able to get through. Their order taking website crashed; was fixed; and crashed again. Despite these problems, the total mintage of the Truman Reverse Proof sold out in less than half an hour.

The next scheduled coin, the Eisenhower Reverse Proof Dollar, also had a mintage of just 17,000 coins. It produced an even larger stampede than the Truman Reverse Proof. The morning the sets went on sale, it was utter chaos. The U.S. Mint website flashed on and off and shopping carts were emptied when customers tried to check out. Even with all of these complications, the Eisenhower Coin and Chronicles sets sold out in just 14 minutes! It was, at the time, the fastest sellout of any coin in the history of the U.S. Mint.

Following the incredible success of the Eisenhower release, the Mint had a public relations nightmare on its hands. The website glitches and lightning fast sellout left many buyers without a chance at these new coins, and they were furious. In response, the Mint increased the mintage of the following John F. Kennedy Reverse Proof Dollar to 50,000, and the subsequent Lyndon B. Johnson Reverse Proof Dollar to 25,000. Even so, these mintages were still very low (especially the Johnson coin), and these sets sold out very quickly.

The 2015 Reverse Proof Presidential Dollars are nearly 12 times rarer than the newly-released 2018 Reverse Proofs

These Reverse Proof Presidential Dollars have the lowest mintages of any U.S. dollar coin minted in 111 years. Comparing the 2015 Truman and Eisenhower Reverse Proof Dollars to the coins in the newly-released 2018 Reverse Proof Set shows how these Chronicles Set coins are in a league of their own.

With regard to mintage, the 2015’s are nearly 12 times rarer than the 2018’s (17,000 vs. 200,000). With regard to public demand, the 2018’s have still not sold out after three weeks. The 2015’s, on the other hand, sold out in minutes, with such insane traffic that the mobs of collectors fighting for these coins crashed the U.S. Mint website several times in less than 15 minutes.

In 2016, the Mint released the fifth and final Reverse Proof Presidential Dollar coin to commemorate President Ronald Reagan. This Coin and Chronicles set had a maximum production mintage of 150,000 sets and a household limit of just one set on its day of release. Due to its relatively high mintage, this set did not sell out on day one, or even nearly two years later. The Mint continued selling these sets through early 2018.

Previous Presidential Reverse Proofs came with a collectible silver medal. Poor Reagan: His silver medal was replaced by a bronze medal. And a potential 150,000 mintage did not have the allure of the 17,000 mintages for Truman and Eisenhower. So the sales of the Reagan Reverse Proof were significantly lower. Even though it was sold through the first quarter of this year, its estimated (unofficial) final mintage was just 47,447 coins -- a full 1,600 coins lower than the Kennedy Reverse Proof Dollar!

In addition to their staggeringly low mintages, poor striking by the Mint made grading these coins a nightmare. The coveted “PR70 First Strike” grade was a very rare commodity.

The Johnson coins were struck especially poorly, making them nearly impossible to find in 70-graded condition. To date, the pop is just 31 (in PCGS-PR70 First Strike). Even the extremely difficult Eisenhower Reverse Proof Dollar, which has the second fewest 70-graded examples, has more than twice as many.

So in addition to their absolute rarity, these coins also have condition rarity. And collectors are paying up. An Eisenhower Reverse Proof in PR70 First Strike traded several months ago for over $1,100. And a Johnson Reverse Proof traded around the same time for nearly $3,400! These coins are commanding serious money.

In my over 20 years of collecting, I have seldom seen such hunger for a new Mint product as I did with these Reverse Proof Presidential Dollars. Needless to say, it may be a very long time before the Mint releases another dollar coin with such a low mintage. Let’s just hope it doesn’t take another century!