Unaudited sales of the 2013 West Point Silver Eagle Set retreated to 235,689, the U.S. Mint said in an email late Friday.
This revised sales total marks how many sets were purchased during its four-week ordering window from May 9, 2013 to June 6, 2013. It’s a drop of 45,621, or 16.2%, from the 281,310 figure that was last published by the Mint on June 7.
A downward sales adjustment was expected at some point but the amount is larger than most thought and without precedence. As a comparison, the final unaudited sales of last year’s 2012 San Francisco Silver Eagle Set went to 224,981 from 251,302 for a smaller decline of 26,321, or 10.5%.
Why did sales fall? Returns and cancellations, mostly. During its four-week sales window, collectors could order as many as they liked and as often as they liked. Since the sets did not start shipping until after the sales deadline, it opened a wider door for volume cancellations. That door swung all the way open when delivery dates for some sets were pushed many weeks back after the Mint ran out of custom packaging materials and had to re-order more from overseas.
Recent Secondary Market Values
Included with the set are two West Point struck American Silver Eagles, a reverse proof and an enhanced uncirculated. The enhanced uncirculated Silver Eagle was the huge attraction for most collectors. American Silver Eagles debuted in 1986 but an enhanced uncirculated version had never been produced until this year and that’s because the technique was only just developed.
Secondary market values for the sets have dropped a bit in recent weeks, and that could change. The lower sales revision may spark more interest and competition.
In some recent prices paid, realized eBay auctions using the keywords "2013 West Point Silver Eagle Set" and searching through the two-week period ended Oct. 22 show:
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Ungraded sets averaging $164.12, with the low end at $148.75 and the high point at $199.99. That compares to an average of $179 in the two-week period ended Sept. 19.
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Graded PCGS PR70 & MS70 sets averaging $303.38, with the low end at $239.83 and the high point at $335.00. That compares to an average of $316 in the two-week period ended Sept. 19.
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Graded NGC PF70 & SP70 sets averaging $236.58, with the low end at $220.00 and the high at $249.00. That compares to an average of $268 in the two-week period ended Sept. 19.
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Graded PCGS PR69 & MS69 sets averaging $155.00, with the low end at $150.00 and the high at $159.99. That compares to an average of $188 in the two-week period ended Sept. 19.
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Graded NGC PF69 & SP69 sets averaging $166.79, with the low end at $149.00 and the high point at $199.95. That compares to an average of $168 in the two-week period ended Sept. 19.
U.S. Mint pricing for the set, which it dubbed the 2013 American Eagle West Point Two-Coin Silver Set, was $139.95.
Wow, I wonder how many were destroyed, never to see the light of day? Just kidding, I know the mint doesn’t have anyone employed, so devious as to foist some of them onto an unsuspecting “collector.” Now, why such a disparity in the cost or pricing of NGC vs. PGS? All things being equal, 70 is 70 and 69 is 69. Right?
One would think. I read one 3rd party grader evaluation that says PCGS is more consistent than NGC, and is also ‘the one most accepted for “sight unseen” trading’.
I used to be a member of both ngc and pcgs, but dropped the latter. They were unreasonably tough in their grading, IMO.
Regardless, I think NGC and PCGS should be treated as equal as the 2 great grading service companies and should fetch about the same prices for graded coinage.
Joe, Kevin feel the same way. There are many different grading services, some “fly by night” and some very reputable. NGC, PCGS and ANACS being the best known and most trusted. All three, grading something a 70 or 69, is good enough for me. Now, would I submit anything for grading? NO! Do I buy graded coins? YES! I buy them to insure I have nothing but the best, in my collection. I also have raw coins, direct from the mints, because, that’s the way they are made!
As a buyer if the exact same coin were graded a 70 from both NGC and PCGS, and the prices were exactly the same or pretty close to it, I would buy the PCGS graded coin. As a seller who gets coins graded, for me, it was too tough to get a 70 from PCGS. Sometimes I would submit my PCGS 69s to NGC to get regraded and roughly one third to one half would be ‘upgraded’ to 70 by NGC. By the time I paid grading fees and shipping both ways as well as online auction fees when selling,… Read more »
I agree that PCGS is unreasonable when grading their coins. If you follow the ANACS guidelines for grading anything, for example a lincoln 1909 S VDB, and it meets the criteria for AU55, PCGS will grade it at XF40; their requirements are ridiculous. It seems as though PCGS grades starting at MS60 and if it isn’t MS60, then forget about anything higher than VF. If you look at what they’ve graded, an XF45 will be MS64 anywhere else, and meets the criteria for MS64. They just make up their own grading it would seem. Don’t believe me? Look at all… Read more »
I had originally had ordered 7 sets and then had to cancel (reordered 2 sets) due to financial reasons (we needed home repairs). On the discussion between NGC and PCGS pricing of coins this is what I have been seeing in the market: NGC’s quality has been slipping over the last 5 years. I have seen coins graded 70 that were clearly not (having visual imperfections). On orders I have also had labels incorrectly placed, such as a proof label on an uncirculated coin & vise versa. NGC calls this a “Mechanical Error” but it is truly an Operator Errors.… Read more »
RonnieBGood, do those label errors have any value to them.?
Are you kidding? Why would a mislabeled product be more valuable than a correctly labeled product? For that matter why should a label have any effect on the value of a product at all? Third party graders should be impartial and not trying to add value by coloring labels or mislabeling products.
Jim, is that a matter of fact or just your opinion?
even reduce this much will not affect the low price for this set. right now in order for a set to go up. the mintage should be below 100,000. period.
Y’all should call the Mint and ask them specifically to do business with all their special sets the same way they did the 20th and 25th Anniversary American Eagle sets: 1st come, 1st serve, mintage limited to something LOW like 150,000 or less.
Hi Joe. This is for you and any others interested in collecting Error Coins. Error coins have value. Error/mis-placed Labels from Grader’s have none! Error coins are striking errors that have gotten past the US Mint’s Quality Control and have then been recognized by collectors. They then can be graded as an error by grading companies. The Red Book is a good reference for older errors and publications such as Coin News are a good source of information for newly recognized error coins. I have seen people trying to sell mis-labeled Graded coins as “Error Coins” on sites like eBay.… Read more »
Just seems to me that NGC packaging look better than PCGS.
Thank you for the information R.