Offered as the second issue in a five-year design series, the U.S. Mint today releases the 2022-W First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin — Freedom of Speech.
The 1-ounce coin is composed of 99.95% platinum with a $100 face value. It goes on sale beginning at Noon Eastern Time.
The themed American Platinum Eagle First Amendment series debuted last year and will continue through 2025. Each is dedicated to one of the five freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment to the United States Constitution — Freedom of Religion, Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Freedom to Peaceably Assemble, and Freedom to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances. The five-coin series features annually changing obverses (heads side) which are based on the lifecycle of an oak tree.
"This series uses the lifecycle of the oak tree from seedling to a mighty oak as a metaphor for our country’s growth as a Nation that values freedom," the Mint explained in a release. "Liberty grows to a thing of strength and beauty from a seed — our Bill of Rights. Each of the freedoms enumerated in the First Amendment contributes to the growth and development of the Nation."
This year’s proof Platinum Eagle shows a juvenile oak tree framed with the inscription "WITH FREEDOM OF SPEECH LIBERTY BLOSSOMS."
Last year’s coin depicts a seedling and an acorn surrounded by the inscription "WITH FREEDOM OF RELIGION LIBERTY GROWS." Next year’s edition will portray the branch of mature oak tree with acorns amid the inscription "WITH FREEDOM OF THE PRESS LIBERTY BEARS FRUIT."
It will be followed in 2024 with a design showing several types of oak leaves assembled between the inscription "WITH THE RIGHT TO ASSEMBLE LIBERTY SPREADS." Finally, the 2025 coin will feature a mature spreading, impressive oak tree between the inscription "WITH THE RIGHT TO PETITION LIBERTY ENDURES."
Obverse imagery for all five coins was created by Artistic Infusion Program (AIP) Designer Donna Weaver and sculpted by U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Joseph Menna. Inscriptions on each include "IN GOD WE TRUST," "E PLURIBUS UNUM," and their year of minting.
Changing designs are not new for the series of proof coins. Previous issues carry emblematic design themes like "Vistas of Liberty" and "Foundations of Democracy." The most recent theme centered on the "Preamble to the Constitution" with the 2018 "Life" coin, the 2019 "Liberty" coin and the 2020 "Pursuit of Happiness" coin.
Shared Reverse Design
Offered on the reverse (tails side) of this latest coin is a design first seen on the just mentioned "Preamble to the Constitution" series. The imagery was selected as the common reverse for all five of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution platinum coins. It depicts an eagle in flight with an olive branch in its talons.
The reverse is the work of Artistic Infusion Program Designer Patricia Lucas-Morris and it was sculpted by Medallic Artist Don Everhart. Inscriptions read "UNITED STATES OF AMERICA," "$100," "1 OZ.," and ".9995 PLATINUM." An added ‘W’ mintmark indicates the coin is produced at the West Point Mint.
Coin Specifications of Proof American Platinum Eagles
| Denomination: | $100 |
|---|---|
| Finish: | Proof |
| Composition: | 99.95% Platinum |
| Diameter: | 1.287 inches (32.70 mm) |
| Weight: | 1.0005 troy oz. (31.120 grams) |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| Mint and Mint Mark: | West Point – W |
Ordering, Mintage Limit and Pricing
The 2022-W First Amendment to the United States Constitution Platinum Proof Coin — Freedom of Speech may be ordered directly from the Mint’s catalog of platinum coins.
Initial pricing is $1,645, which is based on the Mint’s precious metal product pricing and LBMA platinum averaging within $1,050 to $1,099.99 per ounce.
The strike has a maximum mintage of 15,000 and has no household order limits.
Waiting for the no borders, no country coin. I’m sure all the “OLD LADIES” here will buy all they have and whine about the price!!!!!!!!!!
Considering the Anatomy of a Coin, by definition a coin must have a outer border, or edge.
The world is round, not flat. If the world was flat, then cats would have pushed everything off of it by now.
Old Opossums love Fruit Bats!!!!
Yes Major, its a dead ringer, notably released in the U.S. on Feb 3 & 6, 2020.
Apparently not many are going after this arboreal motif treasure; in the first hour after release, the number available only dropped by 2385.
how did you find total number available or left? I usually check when I put in my cart, but they limit cart to 99 pieces!
in chrome, right-click and select ‘view page source’, search for ‘quantity’ and look at the ‘data-available’ amount. right now it shows 5463.
your guess is as good as mine as to how ‘accurate’ that number truly is.
thank you so much! what a help!
Kia, the pace of sales must have picked up in the last hour. After just 2 hours of sales since their release, at 2pm ET there are only 5,500 coins left available out of the 15,000 product limit.
The number available before the coins went on sale was listed as 8167 and an hour later it was down to 5782. Since they sold less than 10,000 of the 2021 we can’t expect the mint to strike all 15,000 in advance. We’ll get to see Monday what they list the actual sales to be.
Thanks for the clarification, Kia. On Tuesday the Mint will post the cumulative sales total for this coin’s 4-day sales through Sunday. Even if the infamous 18 Dealers participating in the Advance Bulk Purchaser Program (ABBP) placed advance orders for 10% of these coins before today’s release, that would only account for about 1,500 coins (since no more than 10 percent of products with limited quantities will be distributed under this program). BTW, at what point would a coin like this go into “Backordered” status – would it be when these initial 8,167 coins have been sold before any more… Read more »
Umm mysterious are the ways of the Mint. Including the sales data in your table makes it even more fun!
2021 data available = 19 (product limit = 15,000) sales= 9,734
2020 data available = 453 (product limit = 13,000) sales=9,231
2018 data available = 3,566 (product limit = 20,000) sales=15,242
Thanks for pointing out the need to correlate the current “data available” figure with the most recent weekly cumulative sales figure and the product limit for the coin in question. Your premise that the mint produces these coins in batches/stages based on the underlying sales strength may explain the Mint’s “mysterious ways.” For example, the 2021 Platinum Proof with a product limit of 15,000 became Not Available [Remind Me] tonight and is “currently unavailable.” Earlier today it had 19 coins available and as of last Sunday (4 days ago) it had a total sales of 9,734. Most likely the Mint… Read more »
UPDATE on the 2021 Platinum Proof: Out of curiosity I checked on the order status of this coin again this morning, and it was available and back for sale with “data available” showing 5 coins available as of 10:20am ET. As Kia99 said, “Umm mysterious are the ways of the Mint” and as I would like to say, “Go figure” – whereas I really would prefer to give this the big Goldfinger!
I like to laugh and think of small changes like this as due to order cancellations, returns or even final “inventory adjustments.”
“financially equipped to acquire this coin” that’s a hard thing to quantify. for instance, someone might say they don’t have the cash, but might be willing to sell something they have to buy this instead. or they might have enough left on their credit card but that isn’t really the same as having actual money. yet others might have the money but decide they would rather keep it on hand for emergencies than tie it up in a small shiny disk, while others might think it makes a great emergency fund because they can’t easily spend it, though they might… Read more »
Whining about the price is what we OLD LADIES always do. LOL
Seems a little ironic that the ‘freedom of speech’ coin costs $1650…
Wonder what the “Freedom to Petition the Government for a Redress of Grievances” will cost in three years…
Next year the 2023 platinum coin will be much, much higher than this one in cost. Platinum going north of 2K by end of 2022… you heard it here first…!!!
Do you think the mint will continue to sell Palladium coins with Russia being a large producer of this metal and the US need for a production use of this metal?
Excellent question, Allan. At this time the Mint’s 2022 Product Schedule lists the American Eagle 2022 One Ounce Palladium Reverse Proof Coin to be released sometime this summer. But who knows? Last year, the Mint surprised us by quietly releasing 8,700 2021 Palladium American Eagle Bullion Coins on top or the advertised, scheduled release of the American Eagle 2021 One Ounce Palladium Proof Coin.