The wildly collectible and unpredictable Libertad series is living up to its name in 2013.

After experimenting with a 30th Anniversary Set in 2012 that contained no fractional proofs, the Mexican Mint brought back the popular 5 coin silver Libertad proof set, with a maximum mintage of 1000 pieces for the 1 oz, 1/2 ounce, 1/4, 1/10, and 1/20 ounce silver proof.  The catch is: they released it in unprecedented fashion. All 1000 of the silver proof sets were shipped to European distributors only.  This makes it very difficult for American (and Mexican) collectors to get it for their collections, but to balance that (or perhaps make it worse) the Mexican Mint created 2 brand new sets.

They debuted a new (mintage of 1000) 3 piece fractional silver proof set for sale in the U.S. only, with the 1 ounce, 1/2 ounce, and 1/4 ounce silver proof coins, and the nice wooden box with COA.  Later this year, they will be debuting a new set with a low mintage of 600 available only in Mexico, of a 4 coin silver Libertad set, with the 1/2 and 1/4 ounce in brilliant uncirculated, and the 1/10 and 1/20 ounce in proof.  With the 5 ounce proof and Kilo proof-like silver coins in the mix, 2013 will likely set the tone for future releases.

Having stopped all fractionals in 2012, it looks like the Mexican Mint is re-booting the series and trying to establish worldwide distribution paths to what it recognizes has become one of the most sought after releases of any mint.  Of course, with all of these sets, the concern is that the total mintage for the year will be higher than 2012, but as the 2011 mintage silver proof numbers show, the market can withstand a very high number of silver proofs before the secondary pricing is affected.

Also, as we are talking about Libertads, the phrase “high mintage” is an oxymoron: there has never been a year where any of the offerings of silver proofs topped the 30,000 area- or in other contexts, the lowest proof of the United States Mint, still is higher than the highest proof of the Mexican Mint (that being the 1986 1 ounce proof).  Nothing since that one year of proofs has topped the 10,000 mark.  So to be clear, when we talk about higher mintages, what we really mean is: crazy low rare mintages, just a little less crazy low.

Gold Rush

The full compliment of Gold BU and Proof Libertad fractionals will be available this year as well, with one caveat: they are going to be extremely hard to find.

The gold proof set in the iconic wooden box will have a maximum mintage of only 250, setting a new key to the gold series.  It remains to be seen if the gold series will catch on the way the silver series has, as the gold proofs have only been consistently minted since 2005.  The 2013 1/4 ounce gold proof will have a slightly higher mintage of 500, so there will be a few available outside of the sets for sale.  The BU mintages are not yet set, but are confirmed to have the 1, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, and 1/20 ounce issues again.

Perhaps the hyper low proof mintage and reintroduction of BU fractionals to a worldwide collector base that has shown a hunger for collecting gold coins will spur the Libertad gold coins to start the long climb to catch up to the sizzle of their silver counterparts.  With a mintage of only 250 sets, they certainly aren’t establishing many new fans.  But by now, Libertad collectors should know what they have gotten themselves into with their attempts to tame these elusive, winged angels.

In 2012, the Mexico Mint started a four year series featuring classic coins of Mexico. These bimetallic coins feature a face value of 100 pesos and a sterling silver center surrounded by an aluminum and bronze alloy and are proof-like in nature.  The reverse of the coin features the famous eagle eating snake Mexican national emblem.

The first edition of the series I set featured the classic 6 coins of: 1) the 1732 columns- the first minted round Mexican coin, 2) the 1783 colonial bust of Charles III, 3) the insurgent 8 SUD- which were like IOU coins for the exchange of silver or gold after the war- the first Mexican coins (not Spanish), 4) the 8 releases “cap and rays”- which feature the word “Freedom” and looking enough like a sun that heads and tails in Mexican coins is expressed as “Eagle or Sun”, 5) the 1914 Caballito (the iconic beautiful 100 year commemorative victory of the war of Independence coin), and the 6)1913 “little ball” peso, minted during the Revolution for Francisco Villa.

Series II was just released and featured six more wonderful pieces of Mexican history.

Note: All images show the new coin next to the classic coin. Click any image to expand.

The first coin features the colonial 8 reales, Carlos III, 1804, the Philippines and chops reseller.  Mexican silver coins were so prevalent in the Orient that many sellers took to adding chop marks to verify the silver content.  The Philippines used a colonial government circular countermark with the initials F7 (Ferdinand VII of Spain).  This coin has both the cool counter-stamp and chop-marks.

Coin 2 features the colonial 8 reales, 1608, Mexico mint, original “F” type macuquino.  These coins were hand-hammered by slamming tokens of irregular sizes down, but because of the pure silver, they were accepted widely.  They were used between 1572 and 1730, and the commemorative version features the 1573 date.

Coin 3 is an 8 reales, 1811, struck in Zacatecas, “LVO”- during the Independence War, the Mexican Mint ran out of metal, and so little mints popped up in mining towns- this one represents one from Zacatecas, and the LVO is Latin short for ‘Labor Vincint Omnia’ (Work Conquers All).

Coin 4 features the Second Empire, Maximilian of Hapsburg, and the first minted 1 peso, with the date of 1866, minted in Mexico.  Old Max was rumored to be the heir of Napoleon and helped (briefly) established a foreign-appointed Monarchy in Mexico (until his execution).

Coin 5 has the “little hand coin”- the 8 escudos Republican currency, type of mannitol, 1828.  With the Latin inscription “Libertad en la ley” (liberty under the law), the popular coins were initially minted in gold.

The final coin of series 2, coin 6 features the image on the back of a coin of the United Mexican States, 5 pesos, 1950, Inauguration of the Southeastern Railway.  The Railway was built to connect the Yucatan to the rest of Mexico, and features an iconic tribute coin of the greatest 20th century feat of Mexican Engineering.

While the U.S. Continues to re-use classic designs (the walking liberty on the silver eagle, the buffalo nickel on the gold buffalo), the Mexico Mint has issued a 4 year tribute to their greatest coins.  Not likely to have the quick-flipper value of the 2011 Silver Eagle U.S. Sets, it offers coin collectors an incredible opportunity to view iconic pieces and for those collectors who have all of the sets in their collection in 2015, it will be quite stunning.  For numismatists, it also features the most exciting and interesting kind of North American History: the kind that fits in your pocket.

The beautiful Mexican Libertad continues to show off her unpredictable nature.  Fresh from a curious 2012 year that saw an end to the fractional proofs, and the release of the 30th Anniversary Set- which was minted to 1500, there are new developments.  The mintage numbers are in (courtesy of Lois & Don Bailey): The Gold Bullion numbers came in at 3000 1 ounce coins, and the Silver Mintage numbers for the bullion coins are: 5 ounce 9500, 2 ounce 18600, 1 ounce  746400, 1/2 ounce 17000, 1/4 ounce 16700, 1/10 ounce 3300.

What does this mean for the BU numbers?  Well, if these numbers hold, the 1/10 ounce becomes the lowest minted BU Libertad- edging out the 2007 (3500).

For the many proof Libertad collectors, the 1 oz proof the numbers came in at 4200, which represents the lowest number since 2006, and puts the proof coin in the realm of the 1995-2006 figures.  Considering the premiums that low mintage proof Libertads have shown, this is a significant development.  When you add in the fact that 1500 of the proofs were available only in the proof sets, that means only 2700 are floating around, and explains why 2012 proofs were so difficult to find.  Recent prices have seen a bump, and the proofs have been selling for between 100-200 depending on if they were graded, and with all Libertad proofs there is a wide disparity in sale prices, owing partially to the extreme low mintages and large demand.

The 2012 30th anniversary sets sales have been rather flat, with most holding onto their sets while some speculators paying more for the ‘No COA’ version (for those that remember- the mint sold the sets partially stamped and asked distributors to fill out the COAs as they sold them, but some of the distributors (Panda America, i.e.) mistakenly sold the non-filled out COAs).  The low mintage of the 1 ounce proof should help these sets retain their value.

What does this year hold for fractional proofs or sets?  Well, early information has the return of the wood-box sets with COAs (Libertad collectors have shown a willingness to pay much more for these than for the same set without the wood box or COA).  It’s not clear what the mintage is yet.  Also, the proof fractionals are returning this year, at least based on early information, and sources say it is the same design- shades of the 2009 Proof American Silver Eagle.

It’s not clear what this will mean, or how many will be produced yet.  But it looks like the 5 ounce, 2 ounce, 1/2, 1/4, 1/10, and 1/20 ounce proofs will be available this year.  Much like the 2009 American Proof Silver eagle, which had little impact on future American Eagle Proofs, it remains to be seen whether this will affect the fractional collecting (my guess: no).  So, like last year, 2013 is shaping up to be a wily and unpredictable year for Libertad collectors!

2012 may have been the year predicted by the Mayans to be the end of the world, and the House of Money (Casa de Moneda), a.k.a. the Mexican Mint, seems to be treating it as such.  First, they shocked collectors by refusing to offer the fractional libertad proof coins that had been minted since 1992.  They offered only the 1 ounce proof coin and only the BU fractionals.  Then, by all accounts, the 2012 1 ounce proof libertad sold out in hours, selling for a high premium before it was ever received by USA collectors.

As we mentioned in this blog before- with the discontinuation of the fractionals- perhaps they were going to offer something later on in the year as a ‘surprise’ set?  It was 1982 that the first 1 ounce silver libertad went on sale, and 1992 that the first libertad fractional arrived.  Would there be a 30th anniversary of libertad or 20th anniversary of fractionals set?

We have our answer! On July 8th the Banco de Mexico released the “surprise” 30th Anniversary Libertad Set.  Featuring a mintage of just 1500, with a wooden box, COA, and perhaps most noteworthy, a gold-plated bronze statue figurine fashioned after the Winged Goddess of Victory.  The statute was first seen last year in the difficult to find 30th anniversary gold proof set- limited to just 500 (and priced in the 4-5k range).

What does this mean?  Well, for one, these sets are going to be tough to find.  Although 1500 were produced, various reports list the numbers as being between 700-900 offered for sale in Mexico, and between 600-800 offered to European dealers.  This leaves the USA collectors with the task of having to buy through distributors connected to Mexico or Europe.

The two-coin set contains the 1/2 ounce libertad BU and the 1 ounce proof- neither of which is unique to the set. However, unlike the US Mint releases, libertad collectors have shown a willingness to pay a substantial premium for set offerings that remain in the wood boxes with the COA’s.  There is also the matter of the beautiful gold statuette, which is not available anywhere else except the very expensive gold proof set from last year.

Finally, there is a “cool factor” with this set- it just looks really beautiful with the gold figure.  In a year where they stopped producing the fractional proofs (and the 2 and 5 ounce proofs), this set stands alongside the US Mint’s SF two coin set as one of the most intriguing two-coin sets of the year.

Now, will they offer another set commemorating the fractionals?  It’s not likely, as they haven’t done multiple set offerings in the past.  Those who think they might, however, would point to the 2011 proof gold sets, which were released without the figurines in a slightly higher mintage.  So, if they follow course it would suggest that if they did release another set, it would only be a non-figure set.  And, since both coins are available separately, a large premium could lead to dealers selling the sets with a single proof and half ounce BU coin themselves (and even throwing in a spare box) and billing it as the 30th anniversary set.  This is often done with the other libertad sets (particularly the 2011 proof set), since the wooden box with COA proof sets of the last few years have been limited to 1000.  A search on eBay on completed listings reveals that buyers will pay much more for the in-the-box-with-the-coa version- sometimes close to double.  The gold goddess statuette will likely add even more to the premium.

In an exciting year with more questions than answers, it seems as if the Mexico Mint is taking the approach (either on purpose or not) of keeping collectors in the dark- which could lead to an offering flying under the radar and then becoming very popular later on.  Assuming, of course, that the Mayans were wrong about 2012.