Set flippers’ profit hopes dashed

Sellers of the 2015 John F. Kennedy Coin and Chronicles set are finding no profit on the new release due to its availability at the Mint.

Read Dave Harper’s accompanying article for the set’s order numbers from the Mint.

The Kennedy set, like the past two issues for Truman and Ike, contains a 2015-P reverse proof Presidential dollar and silver Presidential medal.

As of Sept. 23, the Kennedy sets are selling on eBay for $75 to $85. There’s no noticeable premium on unsealed boxes of the sets. Graded examples have yet to appear.

After factoring the set’s initial sales price at the Mint of $57.95, shipping costs and sales fees on eBay and Paypal, sellers looking to flip Kennedy sets make a very small profit, if not, a net loss.

The Mint’s decision to increase production of the Kennedy Coin and Chronicles set from 25,000 sets to 50,000 is the biggest factor in its secondary market performance.

The secondary market performance for the Kennedy set is a disappointment to those stoked its predecessors, the Truman and Ike Coin and Chronicles sets.

Recently concluded eBay sales place Truman sets with original government packaging at $200 a set, more than three times issue price.

The Truman set initially went on sale June 30 with a production limit of 17,000 sets and a household order limit of five sets. A quick sellout left many collectors without a set, prompting the high market price.

Perfectly graded Proof (PF) dollar and Mint State (MS) -70 medal sets have been rarely seen on the site since August. One recent auction concluded Sept. 8 with an Numismatic Guaranty Corporation First Release PF-/MS-70 Truman dollar and medal going for $712. This is down from the $1,100 to $1,200 the PF-/MS-70 sets were earning in August.

The market is skewed when it comes to graded -69 Truman sets, though. Sets of the dollar coin and silver medal graded as PF-/MS-69 currently bring in $160 to $170 on average, well below ungraded sets.

Either buyers of ungraded sets don’t want them graded, or they want ungraded sets so they can send them off to grading companies in hopes of getting the coveted PF-/MS-70 grade.

The secondary market for the Eisenhower set is more straightforward as ungraded sets and sets grading PF-/MS-69 trade around $150 to $160 as of Sept. 23.

The Ike set was released Aug. 11 with a 17,000 set production limit and a reduced two sets per household order limit.

The perfectly graded -70 Ike sets are still holding onto high premiums. A buy it now sale on Sept. 20 for a Professional Coin Grading Service First Strike PF-/MS-70 brought $1,849. Another buy it now offer on Sept. 17 saw an NGC First Release PF-/MS-70 set bring in $2,000. This price probably will come down as more Ike sets are graded.

The last release of the 2015 Chronicles series is the Lyndon B. Johnson set, which releases Oct. 27. Mintage of the set is 25,000 units, up from an original Mint target of 17,000.

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