2008 US Proof Set Sold Out

The 2008 US Proof Set has sold out. The sell out appears to have occurred some time over the weekend. A call to the US Mint's customer service line confirms that the coins are sold out and will not return.

Along with the sell out of the 2008 Proof Silver Eagles in August, this is one of the US Mint's most unexpected sell outs. The Proof Set is one of the US Mint's core products and has usually been available for sale well into the following year. This set also has no precious metals content. Some of the recent sell outs for gold and platinum products are potentially related to precious metals issues.

The latest sales statistics indicate that 1,377,242 2008 proof sets were sold as of December 11. For comparison, the 2007 Proof Set sold more than 1.7 million sets.

Perhaps as a testament to the US Mint's poor inventory planning, last year's 2007 Proof Set is currently available for sale as part of the US Mint's Last Chance Sale. The implication is that the 2007 set was vastly overproduced while the 2008 set was vastly under produced.

The unexpected nature of the sell out combined with the relatively low production of the set have resulted in soaring prices on the secondary market. Recently completed eBay auctions show the sets selling for prices ranging from $40 to $50 each. The US Mint's issue price was $26.95.

Remaining 2008-dated annual sets which still available from the US Mint now include the 2008 Silver Proof Set, 2008 Mint Set, 2008 Silver State Quarters Proof Set, 2008 Presidential Dollar Proof Set, and the 2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set.

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