Collector sets get boost from holiday buyers

Gift-giving might be the theme of the Mint sales numbers this week. Those old standbys, proof sets and mint sets, saw nice increases. Some lucky recipients will find them in the Christmas stockings perhaps. The regular 10-coin proof set had sales of 23,901 sets and the mint set total rose by 11,256.

Proofs have always been more popular with collectors than uncirculated coins when they are given the choice. The annual totals show the proof set selling more than twice as many sets as the mint set.

The San Francisco Old Mint commemorative numbers are not final, but when this was written, the program was in its final hours. Next week?s column should be able to show preliminary final sales numbers.

The American Buffalo 24-karat gold bullion coin outsold its one-ounce American Eagle counterpart as the month opened. Next year the fractionals arrive. The star of the ?W? mintmarked Eagles this week was the silver ounce.