The last time we talked about a $5 gold commemorative in this blog series covering Whitman Publishing’s 100 Greatest United States Modern Coins, we mentioned how for the longest time, the lowest minted modern commemorative held the title for nearly 20 years. That is until 2016 when the National Park Service $5 commemorative would break the unbreakable record. It was this next entry in our series that contributed to the allure of the upset, that walked so the 2016-W National Park Service $5 Commemorative could run.
#14 – 1997-W Jackie Robinson $5 Commemorative
Like most modern commemorative stories, this one starts with the 1997 Jackie Robinson $5 Gold Coin going on sale on August 16, 1997. It was met with little interest, despite Congress authorizing the maximum mintage of the coin for 100,000 during a year sales period. A year later, in August 1998, less than 30,000 coins were sold between the Uncirculated and Proof versions. Only 5,174 of the Uncirculated version were issued, making it, at the time and for some time after, the lowest minted modern commemorative coin ever issued. Poor sales were later interpreted as a rare, key issue in the commemorative series.
Why the poor sales in 1997 to begin with? Authors Jeff Garrett and Scott Schechter have likened it to a few things with the overabundance of commemorative issues at the time being the largest culprit. The United States Mint was just coming off the massive push of commemoratives from the Atlanta Olympic Games. In 1995, they sold three different $5 commemoratives with three more following in 1996. There was also another one issued in 1997 that honored Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Collectors were being hit by a mass wave of gold commemoratives in just a few short years.
The other reason for the poor performance of the 1997 Jackie Robinson gold coin was that gold decreased in value by 25%. It started above $400/ounce in 1995 and fell to $300/ounce by the middle of 1998. The secondary market was trading these commemorative coins for less than collectors paid for them at issue. This left them with a bad taste in their mouth as they held off purchasing anything amid the falling prices.