Facts On Limited Mintage

Thoughts on Limited Mintage

One of the highly valuable aspects of collectible coins is what’s called ‘limited mintage’. 

Simply put, a coin’s mintage is the number of coins that were produced. This is one of many features that can influence a coins value over time and creates exclusivity on both ownership and availability. Each collectible coin has a unique mint number. Mintages can range from as low as 10 to 65,000 or more — and once those coins have been sold, the mint will not produce any more. Mintage adds exclusivity and ultimately heightens the perceived value and prestige of the item. The lower the mintage, the more rare and collectible the coin.

Being one of a privileged few to own a rare treasure has universal appeal, and a coin’s mintage quantifies that in a very tangible way. And while mintage is a major factor that is considered by collectors as they acquire new coins, there are a number of other features that come into play, such as composition, finish, innovation, theme or historical value. You can learn more about this in the MintBuilder Knowledge Base. 

While rare coins are special in and of themselves, the price can increase dramatically due to “strong arm” collecting and proof scale ratings. When a limited mintage coin is released to the public and sold out, there is no telling how long it will take to find one or what price you would have to pay to get one! This is the “strong arm” of public market that quite literally steers the long-term value of a collectible coin. So what other factors affect value? For starters - how many still exist. This is the eternal mystery that lies within each mintage. A certificate can only state how many coins were minted at the outset, but cannot account for coins that may have been lost over time. Although the precise number of coins in existence cannot be determined, the mere notion that a coin’s mintage may have gone down makes its collectibility go up! 

Next, though an item may be a limited mint, another level to a coins value is the Sheldon Coin Grading Scale. Let’s say to start there are 500 of a limited mint coin produced. Those 500 coins can be put through the NGC grading scale that rates the quality of the strike on each, individual coin. You may be familiar with this, as many Liberty silver dollars we market range between 68-70, 70 being the “perfect” score. Out of the original 500, only perhaps 80 coins receive a PF70 rating — adding even more value to the limited mint item! 

In your MintBuilder account, you can check the rating, run and numbers for all of your NGC rated coins in back office. This is a built in access tool that comes with your subscription. Let’s take a look at an example from our shop:

Here is a 2021 China Vault Protector Vermilion Bird of the South 1 oz Silver Proof Medal NGC PF70 UC First Release that has a Mintage limited to just 1,888 pieces.

This coin is rated what’s called PF 70 ULTRA CAMEO, meaning it’s essentially flawless. But when we put it into the NGC rating tool, we can see that this coin, although 1,880 were struck, only 115 of those were able to attain the flawless PF70 rating by NGC-- adding to the exclusivity and value of this particular coin. Take a look below. . . .

Now that you're an expert on limited mintage, here are some of our current, favorite limited mintage coins in the MintBuilder shop! (Want to see the 2021 China Vault Protector Vermilion Bird of the South 1 oz Silver Proof Medal NGC PF70 UC First Release? Click HERE.)

2022 Nicaragua Mayan Pyramid of Chichen Itza 3D Shaped 5 oz Silver w/ Gold Plating Antiqued C50 Coin BU

Mintage is limited to 750 pieces.

2022 Niue Star Wars - Grogu 1/4 oz Gold Proof $25 Coin GEM Proof OGP

Mintage is limited to 500 pieces.