With the Rio Olympic athletes collecting their winning medals , the real winner of medals of 2016 may in fact be the Silver Liberty Medal available from the US Mint today which sold out within 6 minutes! Let me give you a quick understanding why this was a guaranteed winner:
- This medal bears the same modern design as issued on the 2015 Gold Liberty $100 coin at a fraction of the price.
- The silver medal was offered at a low price point relatively speaking for a 1 ounce silver bullion issue. More importantly however, is the extremely low mintage, 12,500 pieces of each mint, San Francisco and West Point. The total of 25,000 is a very low number considering it appeals to customers who couldn’t afford the 1 ounce gold issue, and equally desirable for those who could add this medal to complement their modern Liberty in gold.
- The fact that it’s a medal and not a legal tender coin is mute, since modern coins are for all intents and purposes medals. The technical denomination is near meaningless on modern issues as they never enter circulation. Comparing this one ounce silver bullion medal of 25,000 to the annual output of many tens of millions silver one ounce eagle bullion coins makes this one of the best buys available on the modern bullion market.
As a first year issue, we don’t yet know the Mint’s plan for the future, but a 2016 dated low mintage silver round will only appreciate in value.
The success of this silver medal will also put buying pressure on the gold coin issued in 2015.
Ebay sales on the first day have already demonstrated hefty premium and climbing as secondary market is at the moment very strong. With many being submitted for Grading by NGC & PCGS, we may yet see four figure price values. Time will tell!