Take a second look at these US Mint Products

The summer doldrums seem to be setting in early. The frenzy for Ultra High Relief Double Eagles came and went. The mania for 2009 Lincoln Cents has subsided. The 2009 Proof Set went on sale and has already been received by many collectors. The wait for collectible Gold, Silver, and Platinum Eagles continues. Without any new US Mint products scheduled to be released until July, I wanted to write a post about some previously released US Mint products, which are worthy of a second look.

2008 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set

This set was originally released on August 7, 2008. It contains an uncirculated version of each dollar coin released by the US Mint during 2008. This includes the four 2008-P Presidential Dollars, the 2008-D Sacagawea Dollar, and the 2008-W American Silver Eagle.

The Presidential Dollars and Sacagawea Dollars are the satin finish versions, which are also included in the annual 2008 Mint Set (now sold out). The Silver Eagle is the collectible uncirculated version with the "W" mint mark (sold out as an individual option).

There are a few interesting aspects to this set. First, this set contains the only collectible American Eagle coin available from the United States Mint in any form. All other 2008 dated American Eagles have sold out long ago, and the 2009 dated coins remain in limbo. The 2008-W Silver Eagle currently has a combined total mintage around 500,000 (444,558 individual coin sales plus 66,521 and counting via the Uncircualted Dollar Coin Set). This is a fraction of the number of regular bullion coins minted for 2008 at 20,583,000, and also lower than the number of proof coins minted at 713,353.

As an added bonus, this set might be the source of potential errors. A Coin Network member reported finding a James Monroe Presidential Dollar with missing edge lettering. While missing edge lettering was common for early Presidential Dollar releases, by 2008 it became much less common and downright scarce for most issues. Are these sets a potential source for errors? I have not seen any other reports, but I would guess that people aren't taking a close look at the edges of the dollars.

The set is priced at $37.95 and the US Mint's product page can be found here.

2008 Silver Proof Set

This set was originally released on August 26, 2008. It contains a total of 14 proof coins, including 90% silver versions of the half dollar, quarters, and dime. This set was somewhat overshadowed by the unexpected sell out of the regular (clad) 2008 Proof Set, and the subsequent release of the 2009 Proof Sets.

Ever since the US Mint start issuing multiple variations of the proof set, such as the State Quarters Proof Set, Silver State Quarters Proof Set, and Presidential Dollars Proof Set, mintages for the full versions have showed declines. The 2008 Silver Proof Set currently shows sales of 765,076. Unless the sales rise significantly, this will be on the low end historically and below the levels for 2007 Silver Proof Set which sold about 875,000 units.

The sets are priced at $44.95 and the US Mint product page can be found here. Most likely these sets will go off sale when the 2009 Silver Proof Set is released this summer.

2009 Kennedy Half Bags and Rolls

These were released on January 22, 2009. The offerings include a 200 coin bag, which contains 100 coins from the Philadelphia Mint and 100 coins from the Denver Mint, and a two roll set, which contains one 20-coin roll from each mint.

Since 2002, the United States Mint has not released Kennedy Half Dollars for circulation. They have only been issued in proof sets, mint sets, and within US Mint packaged bags and rolls. On one hand this has resulted in extremely low mintages. On the other hand, nearly the entire mintage is held by coin collectors and dealers. This balance has kept prices mostly in check.

None of the US Mint issued bags and rolls of Kennedy Halves have ever really taken off in price, which seems to have contributed to waning interest in the products over the years. This year, most people have been focusing on the bags and rolls of Presidential Dollars and DC & US Territories Quarters, perhaps overlooking the Kennedy Halves even more so. Overlooked products have a way of emerging as winners later on. Could the 2009 Kennedy Halves become a sleeper hit?

The 200 coin bags are priced at $130.95 and can be found here. The Two Roll Sets are priced at $32.95 and can be found here. These will likely remain on sale until next year's bags and rolls are released.