Something is very odd about the 2012 US Uncirculated Mint set. If you total up the Red Book value of the individual coins in the set ($55.60) it is significantly less than even the Red Book value of the unbroken set ($65). I don't believe you can say that about any other US mint or proof set. Why is this so? I realize the set was sold out unusually early, but still that seems strange. It doesn't make sense then to buy one and break it up to fill in your denomination sets with uncirculated coins, which works well for all other years.
First of all 1971+ mint sets are worth face (usually) and for proof sets I noticed that too but It might be because not all proof sets have PF65 coins, and redbook pricing is unreliable so.
I agree, except for 2005 to 2010, because the satin finish coins in the sets were low mintage different types than the coins made for circulation. The jury is still out on the sets after 2010 - the mint says they are different than circulation coins, yet the TPG'ers do not.
Hardly! Even "common" mint set coins like a 1978 Ike is worth $2 wholesale. Almost all of the sets are worth more busted up than complete and most have significant premiums.
The Kennedys as well have premiums as high as about 400%. It's true that a lot of these coins don't have much demand and tend to go begging but don't forget that most Gems and most pop tops of all denominations come from the mint sets. It's a shame that people are still ignoring these sets. After all these decades some of the coins are starting to go bad and there won't be any left in the future. Already the '68-P cents are a lost cause since they all have carbon spots. It's getting hard to find even some later dates in pristine condition in the sets and rolls can be highly elusive to almost non-existent. I suppose when the last of the sets have been destroyed then people will decide it's time to collect them.
I buy up all of the early 71 - 81 mint sets and all of the 68-70 Philadelphia sets I can find. Usually get them for a bit over face value. When people realize how tough the clads from those set are to find, I gonna be rich!!!!!
No Mood: That is my thought too, that's why I'm now buying mint sets (and eventually proof sets also) to break up and build high end uncirculated/proof sets of modern clad coinage. Comparing say a 1981 mint set washington quarter to even the nicest circulating example is astonishing.
The 2012 silver proof, clad proof, and mint sets are all higher valued sets than other years. The mint made a decision to stop selling the coins early in 2013 and it caught everyone off guard. It led to relatively low mintages, which led to an increase in value of all three sets ($190 - silver proof; $120 clad proof; and $70 - mint set). Subsequently, coins in the sets began to increase in value. You will find that the Kennedy half dollars are increasing in value. I think that the coin values within the sets will reach equilibrium with the set prices.
I used to drive around from city to city and bank to bank looking for nice coins. I even had a system where I'd get a few quarters from retailer's cash registers to see if there were any gemmy brand new quarters. If there were I'd ask what bank they used and go there to get new rolls. It often worked. What people don't realize is that finding Gems made for circulation was extremely difficult and no one was doing it. Very few typical rolls were set aside because people percieved all the clads as common. Almost every single year when the mint sets came out the coins were much nicer than what I could find through hard work and luck. Finding Gems in the wild was work but finding them in mint sets was like shooting fish in a barrel. Most years about 2% of mint set coins are Gem and another 5% are gemmy.
