Jim Bisognani: A Hair-raising Release!

We are a mere week away from Thanksgiving, which means that we're just a little more than a month away from closing the door on 2024. Gulp!

I've mentioned before that, as this old coindexter goes about his daily routine, time seems to accelerate at a faster clip. I know — impossible! — but it seems like only yesterday I was gleefully trading in my snow blower for the lawn mower and Weedwacker. Yet today, I made the swap back to the snow blower. Rats!

Whether you're scrolling through upcoming online sales or attending a local show, remember to think of that fellow coindexter or budding collector. Perhaps a small coin care package or a few old numismatic volumes would make welcome gifts this holiday season.

As always, the US Mint is front and center for shoppers and veteran coin nerds. It's a great resource with a plethora of wonderful and, in some cases, inspiring options for just about any collector and budget. One such issue — which has made an enormous ruckus and remains in fervent demand — are the 2024 "Flowing Hair" silver and gold 230th anniversary issues. Both of these issues are truly wonderful re-creations of Robert Scot's iconic Flowing Hair design used on our country's first silver dollar in 1794.

I must admit, the Flowing Hair design is one of my all-time favorites. I recall my first "major" purchase being a 1795 Three Leaves variety dollar. I made the purchase in the fall of 1987 and bought the wonderful VF coin for $1,725. It was a truly lovely powder-gray coin with a hint of lilac-assuming occupancy on the borders. I paid dearly for a custom Capital holder to house my prize. Unfortunately, I had to part with the coin a decade later. To this day, whenever I see a VF-certified 1795 Flowing Hair Dollar up for sale, I'm compelled to pull it up to see if it's my coin. Maybe it's made its way into a third-party holder!

That's why I'm on board with the US Mint's re-creation of this iconic design, which has created a seismic wave of excitement in the numismatic frontier.

On October 15, the 230th Anniversary Flowing Hair Silver Medal was released with an issue price of $104. The mintage limit was set at 75,000 total, with a production limit of 50,000. Referring to the data on the US Mint's cumulative sales figures, a total of 49,996 coins have been sold as of November 18.

An exciting bonus to this release was that 1,794 of these medals feature a "230" privy mark, of which a mere 230 of those privy mark medals included a certificate of authenticity signed by US Mint Director Ventris C. Gibson. These medals were sent out randomly to customers. Because of their rarity and random allocation, the prices for the unopened and sealed Mint packages were commanding high premiums in the after market as dealers and collectors eagerly sought one or more of the privy-marked medals.

Currently, offers on the electronic trading network exceed $3,500 for a "fresh" raw medal with the original packaging and documentation. As of today, a well-known major trader on the network is offering $5,300 for any NGC MS 70 examples. Thankfully, for the average collector, the regular version of the medal is around $250. While this is still an escalated secondary market price, it's still quite affordable.

Then, a month later, the US Mint was scheduled to release the gold high relief version of this iconic issue. Instead of a medal, the gold version is called a coin because, true to the original 1794 Dollar, the denomination is incused on the edge as "HUNDRED CENTS ONE DOLLAR OR UNIT."

Truly an awe-inspiring coin, weighing in at one troy of pure 99.99% gold. It commanded an issue price of $3,640. The Mint limit and production limit were both set at 17,500. Needless to say, the demand for the coin was "fast and furious" — within minutes of the ordering window going live online, the coin had sold out.

Click images to enlarge.

I personally fielded dozens of inquiries and emails from frustrated coindexters saying that they couldn't believe they were shut out so quickly. Several thought that, given the high issue price, it would be easy to pick up. Several more had been buying US Mint products for their personal collections for years — and in some instances, as gifts — and they couldn't believe the coins had sold so quickly.

One beleaguered but belligerent coindexter hailing for New Jersey, who had been buying US Mint coins as birth year gifts for his children and grandchildren, was exasperated by striking out for the first time while trying to acquire this golden coin. "Wow," he said, "the 230th Anniversary Flowing Hair high relief gold coin sold out in less than three minutes today, from what I could tell. I wasn't able to buy one for my granddaughter (born in 2024); this is a first miss for me! I usually log in 5 minutes in advance but was put in a 'waiting room.' Then... at 12:03 p.m. I was let in and was greeted by a 'currently unavailable' screen. It's like trading cards now on these US Mint items!"

As of November 18, the US Mint reported a total of 7,625 coins had sold. The question is, when will more be released? For now, it's unlikely that we'll see more.

At present, scores of dealers are buying fresh, original Mint package gold issues at $4,300 and up. NGC PF 70 examples are being offered up at $5,750.

A press release from the US Mint on November 7 — one week before the gold issue's release date — had caused a seismic rumble as people noticed this paragraph, which holds information not mentioned in the product page's description:

"As a tribute to the number of years that have elapsed since the Flowing Hair dollar coin was introduced, the Mint will also auction 230 one-ounce, high relief, 24-karat gold coins with a '230' privy mark on December 12, 2024. The first coin will be auctioned with the die in a custom-made display box. Each of the coins will be accompanied by a certificate of authenticity hand-signed by the Honorable Ventris C. Gibson, Director of the United States Mint. Additional details about this special auction will be released at a later date."

The US Mint then awarded this "sales contract" to Stack's Bowers. All 230 of these prized coins will be sold at auction, with no commission or sales tax. The first coin, with the canceled dies, has already surpassed $110,000 in bids.

Some of the dealers I've spoken with about the gold Flowing Hair dollar shared their opinions. Kevin Lipton had this to say: "We think it's a great product; we have a tremendous amount of demand for it. I would've rather the Mint had shipped the privy coins at random so I could have gotten it for free, but I will happily be an active buyer due to the tremendous interest in the silver version medal. I think that the gold coins are going to be in great demand."

When I asked Lipton what he guessed these privy coins might sell for at auction, he said, "I think they will bring plenty, and I don't think that they will sell cheap. I think that this coin is in a lot of demand, so I think it'll bring at least $10,000 or more."

Another well-known trader voiced his opinion too: "Speaking for me personally, I don't like that the Mint is auctioning them off. I think it would have done a lot more for the hobby if they had kept those privy mark coins in with the regular release. Then, there would've been a lot more collector and consumer enthusiasm for them."

This same dealer/trader went on to say that, at the just-concluded Whitman Expo — where the US Mint was selling the gold Flowing Hair coins — that through the Mint and on the bourse he was able to pick up around 50 coins for his company's inventory. "I'm a huge fan of this coin," he said.

Brian Timmons said, "You know, I would've preferred random shipping. I was at the release in Baltimore; I was third in line with my family. I think we got the third through sixth coins. I told the Mint employees there that I thought it was wrong not to put the privies with the mixture. But, after seeing the frenzy and the scene that was going on in Baltimore, I think it would've been ugly if the privies were there."

He continued, "If you want to know my personal opinion, I've got a bet with the President of PNG. We have an over-under on the first privy coin at a half million dollars. We bet a shot of Pappy 20 bourbon." For the record, Brian is the over on this bet — wow, an instant mint rarity!

This well-known dealer is confident that there will be numerous buyers: "Hey, you know that this is a bigger plan to build up the 250th anniversary," he said. "If you watched Ventris Gibson's video about the Gold Flowing release, she explains that this coin is the first of a two-year program to commemorate the 250th anniversary of our country."

He went on to advise me that he is the under bidder on the first privy coin and expressed his feelings on what kind of bidding should be expected for other privy coins: "Look, it is by far the lowest mintage of a US Mint gold product. The nearest comparison would be the 2020 Gold Eagle with a privy mark — there were only 1,945 of those made and they trade for about $20,000 in NGC PF 70. That's why, with only 230 coins, I'm estimating $50,000 to $100,000 per coin. They might only be worth $25,000 to $35,000 per coin, but I feel that $50,000 or more is more like it."

"I think these coins have a massive significance in the numismatic market," he said. "I think that they're actually going to kind of reset what people think about moderns."

It's certainly some food for thought, which reminds me — Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Until next time, be safe and happy collecting!

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