2001 $2 Coin - Wrong Mintage?

[eccentric]

Thought it might be interesting to get some comments on something that has had me wondering for a while. I noticed a change in issue numbers for the 2001 $2 coin from 3,565,000 in the Fourteenth edition of McDonald to 35,650,000 in the Fifteenth. The values stayed the same in spite of the apparent tenfold increase in the mintage. In the Sixteenth edition, the specimen value jumps from $7 to $25 and stays high in each successive edition while the other higher grade values stay low.  I don't have access to the RAM figures but I feel that there had been a mistake made here - the addition of an extra zero on the end.  I am reasonably sure from reading elsewhere that the lower mintage is correct, making it the lowest mintage number for the $2 coin. Rennicks has it listed as 3,565,000 with correspondingly higher values. I know there are anomalies (eg the 1999 $2, which has a high value and a large mintage) but I feel this is an underrated coin and should command higher prices in McDonald in the higher grades as well. Anyone have any further information on this?

[Unicorn]

Hi Eccentric, the ram website shows it at 35.6million

http://www.ramint.gov.au/designs/ram-designs/2dollars.cfm

I hope that helps!

[eccentric]

Thanks for that!  Certainly clears things up.

[nealeffendi]

Hi Eccentric, the ram website shows it at 35.6million

http://www.ramint.gov.au/designs/ram-designs/2dollars.cfm

I hope that helps!

How reliable is the RAM website? The website says the figures are for coins issued. A quick check of the same website also has Canberra issuing 0.2 million 20 cents for 1988 and as that many proof coins don't exist then shouldn't there be an occasional circulation coin found in noodling? If the RAM can possibly get one statistic wrong then why not two?

[Fulvio]

How reliable is the RAM website?

Not very. Which is why my decimal mintages PDF lists multiple figures with question marks in many cases. EG, for $2 around that period:

2001:  35,600,000? 3,565,000?
2002:  29,689,000
2003:  13,656,000
2004:  20,084,000
2005:  45,500,000? 40,335,000?
2006:  40,500,000? 40,298,000?

The trouble is, its pretty much impossible to positively confirm anything. Which is pretty poor when you consider the nature of the business they're in. :dodgy:

[Ozcoins]

A good size sample (ie a large enough number) of coins will show which of the 2001 figures is correct.
All you need to do is compare how many 2001 you find with how many 2002.
Do you get slightly more 2001 than 2002?
OR
Do you get about 8 times as many 2002 as 2001?

[Ozcoins]

Take a look at this thread about the 1977 10c, where it was concluded that the mintage on the RAM website was incorrect.
http://www.coincommunity.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=105452
Edit: oops I forgot the link before.

[SULLA]

RAMINT Annual Reports show it was produced only in one financial year 2001-2002
with production of 3,565,000.

I suspect human error with web site figure.

[Mister T]

A quick check of the same website also has Canberra issuing 0.2 million 20 cents for 1988 and as that many proof coins don't exist then shouldn't there be an occasional circulation coin found in noodling?

Yeah, not sure about that - McDonald's has a footnote saying they were minted but possibly melted down. I thought I read about a 1988 20c mint roll at one point too.

With regards to the 2001 $2, I think the mintage of ~35 million is correct based on the one 2000 $2 coin I've found in the last few months compared with the 5 or more 2001 $2 coins I've found in the same amount of time.

[runway]

2001 was a busy year for the RAM striking Federation theme coins