Straight form the U.S. Mint’s press release:

WASHINGTON – The United States Mint will begin accepting orders for the 2012 American Eagle One Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin on August 2, 2012, at noon Eastern Time (ET). The current price of the coin is $45.95; however, as with all products sold by the United States Mint containing precious metals, pricing is subject to change.

The American Eagle One Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin is struck on specially burnished blanks. The one-ounce .999 silver coin has a finish similar to its bullion counterpart but carries the “W” mint mark, indicating production at the United States Mint at West Point. Each coin is encapsulated in protective plastic and placed in a blue presentation case accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity.

The coin’s obverse (heads side) features Adolph A. Weinman’s celebrated design of an everhopeful Liberty striding confidently toward the sunrise, draped in the strength of the Stars and Stripes, and carrying branches of laurel and oak in her arms to symbolize both civil and military glory. The coin’s reverse (tails side) design, by former United States Mint Sculptor-Engraver John Mercanti, depicts a heraldic eagle with shield, an olive branch in the right talon and arrows in the left.

Orders will be accepted at the bureau’s website, http://www.usmint.gov/catalog, or at 1-800USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may order at 1-888-321-MINT (6468). A $4.95 shipping and handling charge will be added to all domestic orders. There is no household order limit.

Note:  To ensure that all members of the public have fair and equal access to United States Mint products, orders placed prior to the official on-sale date and time of August 2, 2012, at noon ET, shall not be deemed accepted by the United States Mint and will not be honored.  For more information, please review the United States Mint’s Frequently Asked Questions, Answer ID #175.

Read the entire story here.  The official U.S. Mint statement on the matter is included.

Teacher Ralph Ross (back row, far left), Johnny Duncan of U.S. Coins and Mike Fuljenz of Universal Coin & Bullion (front row) with some members of the Lion Coin Club at Jack Yates High School in Houston, Texas. (Photo courtesy Ralph Ross.)

(Houston, Texas) — Students at Jack Yates High School in Houston who achieved outstanding performance levels this year in standardized tests recently were rewarded with silver coins donated by three Texas rare coin dealers.  Ralph Ross, a physics and math teacher at the Title 1 school, uses old coins to help students understand history, art, politics and science, and he enlisted the dealers’ help to honor high-performing students.

 Former school teacher and principal Mike Fuljenz of Universal Coin & Bullion in Beaumont, Johnny Duncan of U.S. Coins in Houston and Steve Ivy of Heritage Auction Galleries in Dallas donated 2010-dated silver American Eagles struck by the United States Mint.  The one-ounce bullion coins, valued at about $20 each, were given to 50 students who achieved the “commended” level in science or mathematics on this year’s achievement test (TAKS).

 ”The coins are a way to encourage unprecedented academic success comparable to the basketball team triumphs,” explained Ross who started a coin club at the school two years ago.  The Yates boys’ varsity basketball team won the 2009 Texas and 2010 national championships.

Student Gregory Watts, who has two basketball championship rings and was the class salutatorian this year, said: “It meant a lot to me to be an athlete and a scholar.  I want to put those stereotypes about African-American athletes to shame.”

The Lion Coin Club at the school has about 80 members and two objectives, according to Ross: “To advance numismatic knowledge through educational, historical and scientific means, and to promote academic excellence in disciplines such as mathematics and science while preparing students for college and future career focus.”

Ross has been honored twice with Presidential Awards from the nonprofit, 32,000-member American Numismatic Association (www.money.org) for his educational work with coin collectors.

Read the details of the offer.

Recent sales of 2009 Proof Sets hiccup, Braille Silver Dollars crawl, Lincoln Rail Splitters lose luster and, well… the list goes on for nearly every US Mint coin or set.

Collectors appear to be sleeping through the summer when it comes to buying modern coins. There is one, no make that two notable exceptions: American Eagle Gold and Silver bullion coins. They are screaming along this month.

The Mint has sold a whopping 15,449,500 silver and…

Read the full article: US Mint Coin Sales: Bullion Eagle Mania – CoinNews

I’ve had several phone calls recently from collectors wanting to know when the American Eagle silver and gold proof and uncirculated coins are going to return to the Mint’s online product catalog. The best I could do was direct them to the Mint’s Web site:

“Production of United States Mint American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coins has been temporarily suspended because of unprecedented demand for American Eagle Gold Bullion Coins. Currently, all available 22-karat gold blanks are being allocated to the American Eagle Gold Bullion Coin Program, as the United States Mint is required by Public Law 99-185 to produce these coins ‘in quantities sufficient to meet public demand . . . .’

“The United States Mint will resume the American Eagle Gold Proof and Uncirculated Coin Programs once sufficient inventories of gold bullion blanks can be acquired to meet market demand for all three American Eagle Gold Coin products. Additionally, as a result of the recent numismatic product portfolio analysis, fractional sizes of American Eagle Gold Uncirculated Coins will no longer be produced.”

Now a post by Dave Harper of Numismatic News suggests that the shortage of American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins may soon come to an end. Read the entire Friday, May 22 post at http://blog.numismaticnews.net/buzz/.

Here’s my question: If investor coins become more plentiful, is it possible that collector coins will soon be available again? Should collectors of American Eagle proof and uncirculated coins be hopeful?