President Obama on Thursday signed the Girl Scout Commemorative Coin Act into law, authorizing the Untied States Mint to strike up to 350,000 silver dollar coins to honor the 100th anniversary of the establishment of the Girl Scouts of the United States of America (GSUSA).

The coins will be minted and sold in 2013, marking the end of Girl Scouts’ yearlong centennial celebration and kicking off a new century of leadership and service to girls.

The bill, H.R. 621, was introduced by Rep. Jack Kingston and easily passed by a voice vote on Oct. 13. Sen. Susan Collins sponsored a companion bill, S. 451. Instead of moving that forward, the Senate simply passed the House version on Oct. 19 by Unanimous Consent.

President Obama signed the bill at 3:15 p.m. ET during a ceremony at the White House that included Connie L. Lindsey, GSUSA National Board Chair, Laurie Westley, Senior Vice President, Public Policy, Advocacy & the Research Institute, and girls from the Girl Scout Council of the Nation’s Capital.

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Today at noon ET the United States Mint began selling the 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin for $1,360.00, as it announced on Oct. 22.

The one-ounce .9999 fine (24 karat) gold coin is expected to draw significant attention. The US Mint handled early demand in improved fashion compared to the collector blitz and resulting problems that brought its web site down just a few weeks ago with the release of another product, the Lincoln Coin and Chronicles Set.

While there were initial reports of several minute online order delays, that appeared to be the extent of any issue. Phone lines were busy. Some collectors indicated that it took dozens of minutes to get through to a Mint customer service representative, but again, it was unlike their experience of weeks back where there were reports of over an hour of delay and repeated "call back" messages. The Mint added an extra menu option that routed customers to a different queue and standby waiting list, which may have helped.

The Mint’s handling of the Buffalo Gold proof orders on opening day indicates they made improvements, but demand may also have been less intense. The $1,360.00 price point certainly held some customers at bay — especially when considering that gold prices have been dropping for several days and the coins missed out on a $50 price cut by a mere 28.8 cents. (See 28.8 Cents Prevents US Mint Gold Coin Price Reductions.) Many may try and wait for such a cut next week, despite the possibility that the coins could sell out — the Mint has not indicated how many are available, and there are no order limits in place.

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Read the rest of 2009 American Buffalo Gold Proof Coin Launches with Little Issues (253 words)

US Mint collector coins moved like molasses when compared to sales figures of two weeks ago. But bullion coins — especially gold — still had a little swagger in their step. October will be a robust month for American Eagles and American Buffalos.

These and other highlights follow:

• UHR Double Eagles took a significant hit, rising sadly by only 562. Since they went on sale Jan. 22, there has been one single instance when weekly sales were lower. The reason? Gold has been on a five day losing streak, which started last Thursday. It makes sense for collectors to be cautious in buying with expectations of a $50 price decline. We missed that reduction by just 28.8 cents.

• In the Lincoln category, the Chronicles sets were taken off standby status last week with the max 50,000 officially allocated. Lincoln Cent Proof Sets climbed by 4,900, which was less than half of the prior 10,921 increase.

• 2009 US Mint and US Mint Proof Sets were the biggest unit gainers, rising 21,826 and 22,613 respectively. The proof sets were actually up a tad bit. Not so for the mint sets which previously climbed by 74,474. The 500,000 milestone is still nearly 11K away.

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  Read the rest of US Mint Sales: Bullion Robust, Collector Coins Retreat (1,143 words)

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The price of gold has been on a five-day price slide, but ironically the timing of the decline was slightly off in helping collectors pay less for US Mint gold collector coins.

The US Mint uses a London Fix weekly gold average to determine whether to keep gold coin prices the same, or adjust them up or down. The average came in 28.8 cents higher than the threshold needed to cause a reduction of UHR Gold Double Eagles by $50, First Spouse Gold Coins by $25, and 2009 Gold Buffalo Proof Coins by $50.

The Buffalos go on sale Thursday at noon ET. Since the London Fix five day average is $1,050.278, the coins will launch with a price tag of $1,360.00. Had the average been at or below $1,049.99, the coin would have been released at $1,310.00.

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Read the rest of 28.8 Cents Prevents US Mint Gold Coin Price Reductions (139 words)

IRVINE, Calif. – Spectrum Numismatics International, Inc., one of the world’s largest rare coin and currency dealers, announced today that it has hired Richard Melamed as their Senior Numismatist.

"Richard Melamed is one of the most respected numismatists in the industry.  During his 36-year career, Melamed has done everything from running his own coin business to grading for Professional Coin Grading Service, to working for the largest names in numismatics.  His commitment to excellence will contribute to Spectrum’s continued growth as an internationally recognized pre-eminent rare coin and currency dealer," said Andrew Glassman, President of Spectrum.

"I am excited to take on this new challenge and add to Spectrum’s expansion," commented Melamed.  "

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1879 Flowing Hair stella leads the way with $161,000; strong prices signal optimism in the market

DALLAS, TX — With a sell-through rate of 90% by lot and 88% by dollar value, and almost 3300 bidders, Heritage Auctions’ Oct. 23-24 Dallas Signature® U.S. Coin Auction soared to $8.7 million total. All prices include a 15% Buyer’s Premium.

The impressive tally is a good sign for the coin market and provides strong momentum as the numismatic world prepares for the January FUN auctions, long a solid indicator of the overall strength of the business and a benchmark by which to judge the coming year.

"We saw some very strong prices in some unexpected areas," said Greg Rohan, President of Heritage Auctions. "The rare coin market seems to be almost fully recovered in many areas, and perhaps even headed for record price levels next year."

A stunning 1879 Flowing Hair stella struck in gold, Judd-1635, Pollock-1833, PR65 NGC was the top lot of the Heritage Auctions event, with a price realized of $161,000 for this international trade coinage pattern, which bears a Flowing Hair portrait of Liberty by Charles Barber. Demand for the issue is far greater than the supply; only a few hundred of the gold 1879 Flowing Hair stellas were minted and distributed, mainly to interested members of Congress.

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Read the rest of Heritage Auctions Realizes $8.7 Million in Dallas U.S. Coin Auction (698 words)

The United States Mint has sold 110,500 one-ounce American Buffalo $50 Gold Bullion Coins since they were released on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2009.

To place that in perspective, in less than two weeks bullion dealers have purchased 64.2 percent of the total (172,000) that was sold in all of 2008.

There appeared to a touch of dry spell in sales for several days. The US Mint generally updates bullion figures daily, but the Gold Buffalos remained at 86,000 from last Wednesday until Tuesday morning when the tally jumped to 106,500. By close of business Tuesday, numbers were at 110,500.

The Mint will begin selling the collector proof Buffalo coins this Thursday at noon ET. Demand is expected to be fierce. No order limits are in place.

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Read the rest of US Mint Bullion Gold Buffalo Coins Top 110K (219 words)

(Santa Ana, California) – Information provided to Northern California law enforcement authorities by Professional Coin Grading Service led to the arrest of a suspect who is now under investigation in connection with the sales of fraudulently altered Morgan dollars in tampered PCGS holders for nearly $300,000.

“Genuine, common date Morgan dollars were split into two pieces (front and back along the rim), then adhered to each other in combinations to create the illusion of rare date and mintmarks.  The coins then were placed in tampered PCGS holders to give the coin credibility in the marketplace and to hide the alterations,” said Stephen Mayer, Chief Operating Officer of Collectors Universe, Inc. (NASDAQ: CLCT), parent company of Professional Coin Grading Service.

Among the fraudulent alterations were “1883-S,” “1884-S” and “1903-S” that were deceitfully labeled as PCGS MS65, MS63 and MS64, respectively.

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Read the rest of PCGS Helps Police Nab Counterfeits Suspect (335 words)

Several numismatic news or coin blog articles are referenced on CoinNews two separate times a week. These articles are not authored by us, but we recommend coin collectors read them for their unusual or interesting content. Here are today’s coin articles:

2008 mint and proof sets strong
Harry Miller | Numismatic News

Mint sets have shown little change with the exception of a flurry of interest in the Special Mint Sets of 1965-1967 and some strong buying of the 2008 set, which seems to be in very short supply. Proof sets are active with no declines lately. There are about a dozen increases. Some are caused by the rise in silver bullion. The 2008 set shines here as well. …

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Read the rest of Coin News: 2008 Proof, Mint, and Chronicles Set Values; Fake Coins; Errors (438 words)

Two new bills, one in the U.S. Senate and the other in the U.S. House of Representatives, seek to introduce a maximum of 1,000 silver $1 coins in 2010 "commemoration of the opening of the International Civil Rights Center and Museum, each of which shall."

Observers of coin legislation will quickly ponder the lateness in introduction and the extremely usual 1,000 mintage limit. Yet that is exactly what is described in both bills, each named the International Civil Rights Center and Museum Commemorative Coin Act. If the legislation moves beyond their respective assigned chamber committees, expect limits to be more aptly applied.

The International Civil Rights Center and Museum is located at the site of the F.W. Woolworth’s store in Greensboro, North Carolina, where a sit-in movement began to protest private-sector segregation in the United States. On February 1, 1960, 4 African-American students of North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University sat at a white-only lunch counter inside the store in a non-violent protest. By August of 1961, more than 70,000 people had participated in sit-ins and sit-down demonstrations in more than 60 cities throughout the Southeast.

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Read the rest of International Civil Rights Center and Museum Commemorative Coin Act (208 words)