Day: February 2, 2007

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7) Release Date: July 21, 2007

/ Adam Nash / 10 Comments

Right now, my original post on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows (yes, mis-spelled) is driving about one half of all traffic to my blog. Amazing.

Well, more Harry Potter news today.

Two versions.  Standard & Deluxe.

They have announced the ship date: July 21st, 2007.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling, the seventh and final book in the best-selling series, has been scheduled for release at 12:01 a.m. on July 21, 2007, it was announced today by Scholastic, the global children’s publishing, education and media company.

I can’t even really imagine how incredibly large the hoopla will be around the event. In fact, hoopla is not the right word. (Is it even really a word?) Celebration. Chaos. Pandemonium.

This is bigger news than the announcement that the actor who plays Harry Potter in the movies, Daniel Radcliffe, is going to be appearing naked in the revival of the play Equus in London starting February 27th. Yes, you read that right.

You can already pre-order the book. Borders is actually running a “Severus Snape: Friend or Foe” campaign to drum up excitement (like they need to).

The movie for Harry Potter 5, The Order of the Phoenix, opens the week before, on July 13th.

Pandemonium.

Price Changes at the US Mint: Some Down, Most Up

/ Adam Nash

It looks like the US Mint is adjusting prices significantly in 2007 to account for the inclusion of the new Presidential $1 Dollar Coins in the annual sets, and the increased cost of many of the base and precious metals.

Quoted from their new answers site:

You may notice price changes on some of our recurring products this year. These changes, both increases and decreases, can be attributed to several factors:

  • Many of our annual sets have grown to include Presidential $1 Coins.
  • The cost of the base metals that make up many of our coins has increased significantly over the past several years.

Opportunities have been identified to increase customer value by reducing product prices where possible.

Below is a list of current product prices, followed by the change from last year’s price.

  • United States Mint Proof Set – $26.95 (+$4.00)
  • United States Mint Silver Proof Set – $44.95 (+$7.00)
  • United States Mint 50 State Quarters Proof Set – $13.95 (-$2.00)
  • United States Mint 50 State Quarters Silver Proof Set – $25.95 (+$2.00)
  • United States Mint Uncirculated Set – $22.95 (+$6.00)
  • Golden Dollar 250-Coin Bag – $319.95 (-$27.05)
  • Golden Dollar 25-Coin Roll – $35.95 (+$0.45)
  • 50 State Quarters 1,000-Coin Bag – $309.95 (+$9.95)
  • 50 State Quarters 100-Coin Bag – $32.95 (-$2.55)
  • 50 State Quarters Two-Roll Set – $32.95 (+$0.95)
  • Kennedy Half-Dollar 200-Coin Bag – $130.95 (-$4.05)
  • Kennedy Half-Dollar Two-Roll Set – $32.95 (-$2.55)
  • 50 State Quarters First Day Coin Covers – $14.95 (-$5.00)
  • Collecting America’s Coins: Beginner Basics – $11.95 (-$2.55)

The price changes are most noticeable around the precious metal coins, particularly the silver proof sets.  It will be interesting to see how prices adjust on the open market.  I noticed last week that the price of silver proof sets on eBay hadn’t yet adjusted to these new prices.

More information can be found on the US Mint website.