First Spouse Gold Coins Sell Out Within Hours!

I've heard several reports that the first two First Spouse gold coins, which went on sale today (Tues., June 19, at 12 noon ET) sold out completely within 3 to 3 1/2 hours! The first two coins in the First Spouse series honor Martha Washington and Abigail Adams, who were the wives of U.S. Presidents George Washington and John Adams, respectively. The First Spouse gold coin series is being issued in conjunction with the Presidential Dollar series. Mintages for each First Spouse type is limited to 40,000 coins across two coin finish options (Uncirculated and Proof.) (Note added Aug. 30, 2007: The Jefferson First Spouse coins also sold out within 3 hours, despite a stricter limit of 1 of each coin type per household! U.S Mint Director Ed Moy offered some insight into how the First Spouse mintage figures were determined.)

The First Spouse gold coins have a face value of $10 and contain a half ounce of solid 24k gold. They sell for $429.95 for Proof and $410.95 for Uncirculated, and come in a highly polished custom hardwood display box. There was a limit of 5 coins of each type and finish per household (20 coins total,) but despite this restriction, all 80,000 available coins had been purchased by about 3:45 pm, when the U.S. Mint Web site began posting notices that the coins were "back-ordered." (They were, in fact, sold out completely!)

Even if you were on time to the party, this was no guarantee that you'd be allowed past the door! One buyer told me that the Mint Web site was operating at a virtual crawl (if the pages loaded at all,) and calling the Mint's toll-free order-placing phone number only got him a recording that said that due to extremely high demand, the Mint would be unable to take his call at the moment and to please try back later! He didn't even have the option to wait on hold for the next available sales agent. When I checked the Mint Web site this evening, I was still able to place an order for the First Spouse coins, but was put on a waiting list in case orders ahead of me are canceled or something. (I can't really afford gold coins, I just placed the order to see what would happen, and then canceled it. Folks ordering at this point shouldn't hold out much hope of actually getting any of the coins.)

The eBay profit taking surrounding the First Spouse coins had already begun days ago, with at least half a dozen coins having been sold for $599.00 Buy-It-Nows, and several more specimens closing at lower prices by this evening. Since many of these auctions were begun before the First Spouse coins even went on sale, one hopes that the sellers made it to the U.S. Mint Web site, or got through to the Mint's sales department via telephone, sometime before 3:00 pm this afternoon!

If you'd like to have some First Spouse coins, and missed the brief window of opportunity to buy them today, (or just can't afford the gold coins to begin with,) keep in mind that the Mint is also offering an unlimited number of bronze versions for $3.50 each. I am going to wait a couple of days to order mine, though, to save on shipping, because the Presidential Dollar Proof Sets go on sale this Thursday (June 21) for $14.95 each. Fortunately, there is no limit to these, so nobody should be disappointed.

Photo depicts the reverse side of the Abigail Adams First Spouse gold coin. Image courtesy of the United States Mint.