What do you think of the new set’s price?
The 225th Anniversary Enhanced Uncirculated Coin Set is back on the Mint’s schedule for Aug. 1. A Mint spokesman telephoned me during my lunch hour on Friday to confirm this…
The 225th Anniversary Enhanced Uncirculated Coin Set is back on the Mint’s schedule for Aug. 1.
A Mint spokesman telephoned me during my lunch hour on Friday to confirm this with me.
I appreciate the call.
It would seem I looked at the Mint’s website for my blog at the wrong time on Friday.
Thanks also to collectors who sent me messages after posting.
Now appearing with the returned listing on the Mint online product schedule is the price.
Drum roll, please. $29.95.
That is $3 more than a 2017 regular proof set.
It is $9 more than a regular Uncirculated Coin Set.
It is cheaper than the $47.95 cost of a silver proof set, but it must be emphasized that there are no silver coins in the Enhanced Uncirculated Set.
The 10 coins in it are the usual base metal compositions.
There are five America the Beautiful quarters. The other five coins are the cent, nickel, dime, half dollar and Native American dollar.
All are produced at the San Francisco Mint and carry the “S” mintmark.
The Mint’s description of the new finish on the coins is “an enhanced uncirculated finish using a combination of laser frosted areas and an unpolished field that accentuates design details, creating a unique contrast distinctly different from the mirror–like finish of proof coins.”
For collectors, the question now becomes one of whether the new finish is worth the price.
It is a special anniversary set, so that ranks it higher than a regular proof set.
However, collectors still rank proof coins as better than uncirculated pieces, enhanced or otherwise.
At least this ranking holds until Noon Eastern Time Aug. 1 when the orders start to flow.
Maximum mintage will be 225,000.
So far there is no household order limit.
That means large orders can be placed.
This increases the possibility of a sellout even with the $3 premium price over a regular proof set.
In the Internet Age rapid sellouts generates immediate excitement on the secondary market.
Sets will be listed by private sellers even before the seller has them in hand.
Collectors still have more than a week to digest this information.
They can plan.
They can line up funds.
Or they can ignore the set.
Will they? I expect not.
What will you do?
Buzz blogger Dave Harper has twice won the Numismatic Literary Guild Award for Best Blog and is editor of the weekly newspaper "Numismatic News."
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