James Monroe Presidential Dollar Coin & First Spouse Medal Set

The latest release for one of the US Mint's more intriguing products is about to go on sale. The Presidential Dollar Coin & First Spouse Medal Set for James Monroe will be released on August 6, 2008 at 12:00 Noon ET.

This set will contain one uncirculated 2008-P James Monroe Presidential Dollar and one Elizabeth Monroe Bronze Medal. Both will come on a custom designed plastic card. The sets will be priced at $7.95 each. The product page can be found here, although ordering options are not yet active.

Why is this product line so intriguing? Back in June, I noticed that some of the 2007 issues were selling for incredible premiums on eBay. In particular, the Thomas Jefferson Set was consistently selling for over $200. This was quite a jump for a product originally priced at $7.95 which contains a medal available for sale separately at $3.50 and an uncirculated coin not difficult to obtain for around face value.

Prices seem to have come down a bit, but the sets are still selling for $20 to $40 each. There have not been any recent auctions for (I suppose) the key Thomas Jefferson Set.

Here are the current eBay listings for the sets.

Here are the completed listings for the sets.

Will this year's Presidential Dollar & First Spouse Medal Sets experience similar price increases after a sell out? In my opinion, the answer is no. The prices for last year's sets probably got the attention of many collectors who will place bigger orders this time around. Also the set is still essentially an easily obtained coin and medal in custom packaging.