Early ordered San Francisco minted 2012-S American Silver Eagle Two-Coin Proof Sets are shipping, updates in U.S. Mint customer orders show.
Customer account summaries for Two-Coin Proof Sets are beginning to show a status of "Your order request has been shipped," along with shipping dates and tracking numbers.
With last reported sales of 251,302, the U.S. Mint is expected to fulfill orders using a first-in, first out priority. It may be tweaking that process on a customer level to widen early distribution. In one customer case involving two separate orders, an order processed early for three sets was passed over in favor of shipping a single set from an order that was placed later in the day.
Whether that instance is part of the planned shipping process or happenstance, it is clear that those who purchased late will have to waiter longer. The U.S. Mint sold 2012-S American Silver Eagle Two-Coin Proof Sets from June 7, 2012 through to July 5, 2012. Orders placed toward the end of the sales period continue to show a status of "back-ordered" and an expected shipping date as late as October 31, 2012.
Deliveries of the sets could not come at a better time, with news of the American History Coin & Currency Set frustrating many collectors. This upcoming set will include a 2012-S Proof American Silver Eagle, a coin most expected as unique to the Two-Coin Proof Set.
Here are a few comments from CoinNews.net readers about including the American Silver Eagle in more than one set:
Bos: Wow, maybe I should go back to collecting Morgans, at least the mint won’t pop a few more million of them out of the hat after previously closing out a specific ordering period for a product… If you are going to pull a flim flam like this and have a second ordering period, at least would have been advisable to fulfill the orders and collect the income from the first "limited edition" period. Can I hear the word "cancellation?"
RonnieBGood: If the Mint continues to issue coins without prior notification to collectors they will continue to alienate the collecting public. This "new issue" only adds to the approx. 250k "S" minted AE’s that have been already been sold/issued. Look at the ATB quarter series. They now have 14 different ways to collect the 56 quarters that have been or will be issued in the "America The Beautiful" quarter series, wait, it’s now 15 with the new "S" minted quarters. The Mint only seems to care about the profit these new iterations will bring these days. Did they mint far in advance of 251,000 coins sold and need a way to get rid of the extra? With all of these "new variations" the the Mint is only lessening the potential value that these coins may have in the future!
Stan: This certainly deserves a second look by collectors who ordered the San Francisco Two-coin Proof Set! Most collectors buy these coins for numismatic potential, and when the mint undermines that potential, they also undermine their credibility, which is questionable in the first place! As Bos indicated above, a cancellation may be in order.
bigT: Well here we go again. What is the mint thinking? We collectors and investors purchase a product within a specified period of time and make a personal decision as to our individual participation in a program only to have the mint come up with another way to market the product offering that is no longer being offered in a different format. They are playing with fire here and I real hope they get burned. All of us that have purchased the 2012 San Francisco set with an anticipated mintage of about 251,000 can look forward to several tens of thousands of additional coins being produced. Is it possible that the mint anticipated a larger number than the 251,000 coin orders for the 2 coin SF set and have to create another product to improve sales for the unsubscribed coin offering. What does mint to order mean? This is ridiculous and a total sham. If the mint were a private entity they would be sued for this kind of misrepresentation. I’m a long-time purchaser of mint products and at a substantial financial commitment. It is definitely time for all collector/investors to revolt against the mints misleading program offerings.
Additional comments are found at the end of this article.
Separately, Coin World reports that U.S. Mint officials have apologized for the lack of communication and that the second coin in the Two-Coin Proof set, the 2012-S Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle, will remain exclusive to it.
Wow, I can’t wait to see my limited edition coin (that’s singular, as in only one, even if the set contains two coins.)
Jim – Right on the Money!
I sincerely hope that will all the stumbles of the Mint and the excessive new issues of coins that the youth / newer coin collectors won’t be scared away from the hobby. It is not doing much for the long time collectors either!
Remember beer cans, stamps and beanie babies…
I ordered on July 5.
Happy Halloween!
RonnieBGood its nice to see Coin News print your comment. Hopefully the U.S. Mint will notice.
Mint must be worried that many of us will cancel. I ordered the set during last 15 minutes, on last day. They had shown that my set was backordered until 10/31/12. It shipped yesterday!!!
Joe – Thank You.
I kept a smaller order but cancelled a 2nd much larger order. Perhaps if enough do, it will keep the value of the remaining sets higher in the future.
How fortuitous steve1942, my order was placed 12 June and it is still showing “In stock and reserved”. If I ran my business like this, I’d be out of work!
Just cancelled my entire order. This set is not worth it.
Ed A
Really? You just lost out on the first, maybe only, reverse proof S mint silver eagle. Not that great looking in my opinion but still a one of a kind coin for silver eagle collectors.
Put my order in on the 5th, order status said expected to ship 10/31/12. Checked status on the 28th and now it reads backordered, expected shipping date 7/27/12. Charge is still in process, no shipping number, still can cancel. Says the same thing today 7/30/12, expected ship date 7/27/12. Maybe the mint acutally ment expect to ship 7/27/13?
Jim,
I have a hunch that the U.S. Mint will screw everyone again with all these cancelled sets and out of the blue come up with all the leftovers Reverse Proofs in a separate set with some lame anniversary excuse like they did with the Proofs. Like the old saying says “if you can’t beat them, join them”. BTW, thanks for the encouragement.
Cancelled orders will slip out of the back door and show up on the triple priced T.V. Shows or mega-sellers on e-bay, selling to the uninformed fringe collectors. Can you say “five-pay” on your 24.99 % shopNBC credit card??? We can all sight examples of getting stuck with mint product that will never be worth more than the original selling price. They DO hit some winners like the UHR 2009 gold ounce, but few and far between. I honestly can say the ATB items are confusing and credit ronnie.b.good with the ability to count all of them, I can’t tell… Read more »
I know this is giving the mint a lot of credit that they haven’t earned, but I expect (ok, hope) that at some point the mint will stop allowing cancellations and make the final sets according to the count in the remaining orders. We know that the final order qty reported by coinnews was 251,302 so we should see some number smaller than that if in fact people have been cancelling as they said they were and the coin sets are made to order. Don’t forget the secondary marketeers all had the opportunity to order as many as they wanted… Read more »
Jim, As it is true the “S” mint Reverse Proof is unique at this moment, the key phrase here should be “For Now”. The issue for collectors and investors today is the increasing frequency of issues that lessen their rarity, value and collecting appeal. Let’s look at Reverse Proofs as they now stand: 2006 Gold AE Reverse Proof (20th Anniversary set). 2006 Silver AE Reverse Proof (20th Anniversary set). 2007 Platinum AE Reverse Proof (10th Anniversary set). 2011 ASE Reverse Proof (25th Anniversary set). 2012 ASE “S” Minted Reverse Proof (2 coin set). Look at what has happened to the… Read more »
I wonder when the “D” mint mark is coming out for the Silver Eagles & the ATB silver quarter series.
Just checked again to see if my order has shipped, NOT!
And Jim, as you wished, the cancel button has been removed from my order summary page.
While I wasn’t able to get all of the reverse proof coins you listed I did get the 3 silver coins. I don’t think the reverse proof is anywhere near as attractive as the regular frosted proof and I bought the 3 silver coins more because of their deviance from the standard proof coin. If the mint decides to make reverse proof coins available outside of special sets then I wouldn’t buy them. So my collector’s value is based on a coins’ attractiveness and its membership in a continuing series which the standard frosted proof silver eagle fits in. A… Read more »
I am a long time collector, investor and (fair) coin sales. While we are collecting beauty, artistry and personal appeal rule our preferences. We all hope that our collections will increase in value over time. At some point we will wish to sell some or all of our collections or to leave a coin legacy to interested family members or friends. ASE Bullion, Burnished, Proof, Reverse Proof & “S” Mints. It is all good to add a little interest to a series. How about a 5 ounce ASE? Or an Ultra-High Relief? I would buy a onetime issue of each… Read more »
If they mint it I will buy it. It’s my goal to buy every diffrent Silver Eagle ever minted off the U.S. Mint. I been lucky enough to get 1 of the 47,000 error Silver Eagles from the Mint. I’m all for it RonnieBGood. Even if the money is tight right now. I have to stay with it.
I just got notice my coin set will be delivered. Answer this for me if you guys would. It’s being delivered by fedex. I dont have a big problem with that except with the shape the US POSTAL SERVICE is in why doesnt the mint at least make a deal wth them like the big box stores do with fedex and ups so they use their own postal service?
RonnieBGood – Well said. My suggestion for a one-time issue is something that to my knowledge no mint has ever tried and that is what I call a negative proof. A negative is a coin that has its central design recessed into the coin face, as if it were a coin die. It’s a bold move for any mint to take making a negative proof, something I would expect the Canadian Mint to try but something I think the US Mint would never have the guts to do. Still I think a negative proof silver eagle could look as spectacular… Read more »
jim,
Weren’t the gold proof Indians ($2.50, $5, $10) of 1908-1915 incused? Or a negative?
Mike – I don’t know, were they? A 1908 Indian head $5 gold piece I saw on eBay looks like a regular coin to me. I don’t believe anybody’s done it in the modern era (1960’s+), anyway. Certainly the US Mint hasn’t. They did a bi-metallic (gold/platinum) Library of Congress commemorative coin in 2000 but never ventured beyond that one coin. I’m also waiting for the palladium eagle to show up but closed mouth/noncommunicator deputy director Peterson hasn’t indicated one way or another if that’ll ever happen either. If it does we probably wouldn’t find out until 2 months before… Read more »
Hi Jim, Mile is correct. The Mint did make an incused Indian… 100 years ago. Popular with the public because the coins wore well, unpopular with the mint due to the difficulty in maintaining the raised dies. Hi Joe, Jim is correct. The issue with the bullion ASE is mintage, mintage, mintage. You have to go back to 2008 for a mintage total fewer than 20 million. 2009 ASE bullion has a mintage of 28.7 million, 2010; 34.6 million & 2011; 39.8 million! Plenty for all and easy to be had for around $100 Graded MS70! With the high mintages… Read more »
Jim your right family home food college are first. But i’m not going to stop now. Its the collector in me. And 95 W is the only silver eagle I do not have. I lost out on that one. And if you do not buy from the Mint you pay more elsewhere in the long run.
Joe – A lot of people missed out on the 95W. I think people didn’t realize the silver coin in the 10th anniversary set would also be a W mint or that all subsequent SAE’s would have a W mint mark. I sure didn’t. And I’ll bet with 1.85 oz gold in the set the silver coin was tossed in just for the heck of it. Who’d have thought that the silver coin would be worth more than all the gold in the set? But I agree, as end consumers what we pay is after everybody has added in their… Read more »
Joe & Jim,
I noticed that the price for the 1995 W in MS69 dropped from an average of $5,000 to around $3,000 in 2009 during the worst of the recession.
ps. I don’t have one either.
RonnieBGood & jim, You would think that in 17 years that all the different Silver Eagles ever made, except the 1995 W Proof, that I would make a good amount of cash, not including the money I already put into it. Thats if I pass before I cash I’ll be 70. RonnieBGood, you mean 1995 W Proof, not Mint State. I always considered Mint State uncirculated.
Thanks, Joe.
Tracked my order for the San Fran Proof Set. Sent out 7/27.
Received my eagles today. Must admit, the packaging is fantastic. I would suggest people not cancel. You will not get the same thing by buying separate coins. With this packaging, this set is much better than anything the Perth mint or others put out for the price.
New Zealand would be close, but with the appreciation in their currency, even their coins are 20% more expensive.
Yes, Proof on the 95w. Great discussion guys.
I agree the packaging is nice on this set. I got mine on Wed. You would be suprised at how many people get rid of the packaging over time. It is the coin that has the value. Graders will not typically send packaging back to you unless you specifically ask for it. On my 10th ann platimum set it took 3 months for them send it back. They missed the request on my paperwork.
Enjoy this nice set!
Jim & others, You can open this set! Submission Instructions (from NGC): Remove the coins from the US Mint packaging and submit them raw in the capsules. Do not send the Mint packaging. IMPORTANT UPDATE: To receive the SAN FRANCISCO EAGLE SET pedigree, the Proof and Reverse Proof 2012-S Silver Eagles must be received in equal numbers on the same submission form. If the Proof 2012-S Silver Eagles are submitted without an equal or higher number of Reverse Proof 2012-S Silver Eagles, they will NOT be eligible for the special pedigree. All Reverse Proof 2012-S Silver Eagles will receive the… Read more »
BonnieBGood – RonnyBGood – Yes, very helpful. Thanks. To me the special pedigree doesn’t mean anything. A 2012 proof SAE is a 2012 proof SAE regardless of which set it was sold in. And once graded and repackaged by a grading company the original packaging is useless since the coins won’t fit anymore. So what did you do with your 10th platinum box? An idea for the mint – offer the coins with packaging or without packaging (and at a discount) so that landfills won’t be cluttered by useless mint packaging materials. Another idea for the mint – automatically submit… Read more »
I keep my raw coins in original packaging. There is a market for original packaging. You would have to sell a truck load to make any money.
Got my set yesterday. Very nice set. I really can’t complain as I didn’t figure they would go up like the 5 coin Annversery set which I was lucky enough to get. We will see.
It is my name little Jimmy…
The 10th Anniversary set was required to be sent to NGC unopened.
Yes, There is a market for complete sets with all OGP & COA.
You meant 20th Anniversary set, right?
Well OK, if I ever send in something to be graded I’ll try to remember to keep it’s original materials just in case I ever decide to sell it.
No, the 10th Ann Platinum American Eagle set had to be sent in unopened to get the anniversary label due to the 1 oz plat eagles also sold separately.
I agree that the labels and packaging should not matter, but they do seem to matter to a lot of collectors. I like the no mint packaging option, so would a lot of others!
Some of the nicer mint boxes with the magnetic inserts (like the 2 coin ASE set) display graded coins well but most of the Mints packaging is not wanted, needed or Green.
Is anyone hearing anything about a final mintage one these or when the mintages might be announced? I’m sure a lot of orders are being cancelled with the aftermarket pricing tanking?
I would’nt worry about cancellation as for those that are cancel there will be an outlet as there will probaly be no melting too much time to prepare these sets.Common sense should tell you they may even open the selling of the cancel sets.I cancel 2 order of 7 sets when I seen they had orders over the 2006 sets now I,m sorry I did as they will go up in value.Now I will probaly have to buy a set on line as I’ll still need a set as I orginally purchased the 1995 gold set with the free 1995… Read more »