A post on the Mint News Blog provides collectors with the price for the 2009 Ultra High Relief Gold Double Eagle.

The new pricing methodology is based primarily on the London Fix weekly average (average of the London Fix prices covering the previous Thursday a.m. Fix through the Wednesday a.m. Fix) platinum and gold prices, which reflect the market value of the platinum and gold bullion that these products contain.

As required by law, the prices of these products also must be sufficient to recover all other costs incurred by the United States Mint, such as the cost of minting, marketing, and distributing such products (including labor, materials, dies, use of machinery, and promotional and overhead expenses).

This pricing methodology will allow the United States Mint to change the prices of these products as often as weekly so they better reflect the costs of platinum and gold on the open markets.

Provided the average price of gold remains between $850 and $899.99, the price of the coin will be $1,239.00.

Two reverse types have been discovered on uncirculated 2008-W American Eagle silver coins sold by the Mint directly to collectors, but Numismatic Guaranty Corp. says it is not yet known whether there are two types of reverses for the regular bullion coins sold through the Mint’s national authorized purchaser network.

One type is the same reverse as was used in 2007. The other type is one introduced this year.

“This is a significant hub variety,” says Rick Montgomery, NGC president. “It has very clear diagnostics, and appears on one of the most widely collected of all U.S. coins.”

The most obvious identification diagnostic, NGC says, is the “U” of UNITED on the coin’s reverse. On the Reverse of 2008, as the new type has been designated, the “U” has a spur on the right side of the letter.

Source: Numismaster

The U.S. Mint press relations office provided some interesting information about this variety and the minting of Silver Eagles in general. Here are some of the facts they provided:

• Approximately 47,000 2008-W Silver Eagles were released with the 2007 reverse type.
• The reason for the change in hub is that the Mint has upgraded from using hand-engraved hub creation methods, to digital engraving methods.
• The Mint believes that 15 dies with the 2007 Reverse type were involved.
• The variety was created during 3 production shifts, which is how the Mint arrived at its estimate of the number of coins involved.
• The U.S. Mint marketing materials depicted the 2007 reverse type.
• The Mint did not plan for the hub change to happen mid-year, and has confirmed it was unintentional that the 2007 Reverses were used for 2008.