The upcoming introduction of the 2012 San Francisco American Silver Eagle Two-Coin Proof Set by the United States Mint has been a robust topic of discussion for collector and news sites.
Revealed in a CoinNews.net article on Thursday was its $149.95 price, an area that has elicited a fair share of comments from collectors about it being too high. With the U.S. Mint having already released its standard 2012-dated proof Silver Eagle at $59.95, doubling that reaches well short of the set’s price.
SilverCoinMeltValues.net ran some numbers and indicates that the set’s pricing is 160% over its melt values, based on a silver price of $28.52 an ounce.
It is hard to argue that the U.S. Mint did not go a bit high on the price. Still, many will handle their cash over on Thursday, June 7, 2012 when it goes on sale at noon Eastern Time. Debbie Bradley of Numismatic News takes this approach, having toured the U.S. Mint in San Francisco and seen the two American Silver Eagles for herself.
As a reminder, those two coins include:
- a 2012-S Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle, and
- a 2012-S Proof American Silver Eagle
With no other avenue of getting them, sales should make the Silver Eagle set a top-five numismatic product this year. Most will find the reverse proof of most interest since the method used to make it results in a unique finish. The U.S. Mint describes the process as:
"Reversing the mirror-like background finish of a traditional proof coin and applying it to the design elements of the coin achieves a magnificent contrast."
Mintages for the Silver Eagle set will be based on the amount of orders taken by the U.S. Mint, but only between its release date and one month later when it goes off sale at 5 PM ET on July 5, 2012.
Collectors may purchase as many as they want since there are no household limits. To do so when released, visit the U.S. Mint website at http://catalog.usmint.gov/ or call 1-888-321-MINT (6468). The Mint has indicated that it expects to begin shipping the sets in late July.
