The first round of sales of America the Beautiful 5 oz. silver bullion coins is concluding and the second round will begin in late April when the 2011 Gettysburg coin will be sold by the U.S. Mint to the Mint's Authorized Purchaser network.Larger quantities will be available this time, Tom Jurkowski, Mint director of public affairs, said on March 9 so none of the terms and conditions imposed on the AP's in the first round of sales will apply to sales of the 2011 coins.
This does not mean the 2011 ATB coins will necessarily be abundant, however. As a precaution, the Mint will allocate the numbers that are available equally among the AP's, a memo to them says.
Allocation is the Mint's term for rationing supply. Allocation is also currently being enforced for supplies of the 2011 silver bullion American Eagles.
However, to get the 2011 ATB coins, the AP’s must certify to the Mint on company letterhead that they have sold all of their 2010 5-ounce coins.
The Mint has also promised to free the AP’s from the terms and conditions imposed on the initial sale of the 2010 ATB coins once they certify that they have sold out their Mint supply. This will free them to buy and sell quantities of the 2010 coins on the secondary market from that point on.
There was no word as to when the remaining four 2011 ATB designs will be put on sale, but it is expected they will be introduced at intervals as are the 2011 quarters.
Also, there was no word as to when the 27,000 sets of numismatic 2010 ATB 5-ounce coins would be sold by the Mint directly to collectors.
