On September 29, 2022, the 2022-W Reverse Proof Palladium Eagle (Buy on eBay) went on sale. First-day sales of this coin totaled 4,679, and there was a household limit of 10 coins that was only in effect for the first 24 hours. After that the limit was removed.
As was reported in the numismatic media prior to the release of the coin, 3,000 of the 7,500 coins available were set aside for possible purchase by dealers who are part of the Authorized Bulk Purchase Program (ABPP). However, those dealers actually purchased a total of 2,707 coins prior to the official launch of the coin. They paid a 5% premium over the price that was charged to the public when the coins went on sale, and they also had to pickup their coins at the United States Mint’s order fulfillment warehouse in Memphis, Tennessee.
When this information was first reported, some collectors expressed criticism about the fact that 40% of the mintage of the coin was set aside for sale to those dealers. But as it turned out, there was sufficient inventory remaining to satisfy initial public sales of the coin.
The retail price of the coin when it first went on sale to the public was $3,050. At the time of writing, the coin was available to order for a price of $2,850 due to a reduction in the spot price of palladium since the coin’s release.
By October 2, sales had reached 5,378. And by the time the December 11, 2022, sales report was issued, a total of 6,184 of these coins had been sold.
The 2022-W Reverse Proof Palladium Eagle is the second Palladium Eagle with a Reverse Proof finish that the Mint has issued since the start of the Palladium Eagle program in 2017 with the first one having been issued in 2019.
In terms of authorized mintages, the 2022 coin had the lowest one of the series to date, but in terms of actual sales, so far the 2021-W Proof American Palladium Eagle coin is the lowest at 5,169 and that coin is the new series key since it is no longer available for sale.
Under the provisions of the law that created this coin program, the American Eagle Palladium Coin Act of 2010, each year’s Proof or Uncirculated palladium coin is supposed to have a surface treatment that “differs in some material way from that of the preceding year.”
That legislative language established a pattern that has emerged throughout the program in which a Proof coin is first released, followed by a Reverse Proof, and then an Uncirculated coin. Occasionally, such as in 2020, coins with a burnished finish have been issued.
Some collectors have indicated that they would be interested in seeing some new finishes used on these coins such as perhaps one with an Enhanced Uncirculated, Enhanced Proof finish or Enhanced Reverse Proof finish as has been used on some American Silver Eagle coins in the past.
2022 Platinum Eagle Specifications:
- Designer: Adolph A. Weinman
- Composition: 99.95% platinum
- Diameter: 34.06 mm (1.34 inches)
- Weight: 31.120 grams (1.005 oz)
- Edge: reeded
- Mint Mark: West Point
2022 Palladium Eagle Mintage:
- Reverse Proof: 7,367
Mintage based on U.S. Mint sales figures as of December 19, 2023.
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