On Tuesday, June 4, 2012, the United States Mint will release its 2012 US Silver Proof Set at a price of $67.95. The set’s pricing, based on the latest spot silver price of $28.52 an ounce and its 1.34 ounces of silver coins, is $29.78 above its melt value of $38.17. (See this site’s page of Silver Set Melt Values for always current melt values.)
U.S. Mint image of its 2012 US Silver Proof Set
But such premiums above newly released Silver Proof Sets and their melt values is pretty much the norm. US annual sets are popular collecting products with collectors willing to pay more for them. Last year’s Silver Proof Set, which is still available for the same $67.95 price, went on sale on January 25, 2011 and it has sales of 561,425 as of Monday, May 28, 2012.
Since the release of the Silver Proof Set in 2010 which contained the debuting America the Beautiful Quarters® — a series that honors five different national parks or sites each year, the number of coins within the annual set has stayed at 14. Half of those are composed of 90% silver and ten of them feature one-year only designs.
This year’s included coins breakdown as follows:
- (5) America the Beautiful Quarters
- (4) Presidential $1 Coins
- (1) Native American $1 Coin
- (1) Kennedy half-dollar
- (1) Roosevelt dime
- (1) Jefferson five-cent coin
- (1) Lincoln cent
Those composed of 90% silver and 10% copper include the five quarters, the half dollar and the dime. The other coins have a standard clad composition which matches their companion circulating coins.
The coins with the one-year only designs include:
- the America the Beautiful Quarters honoring El Yunque National Forest in Puerto Rico, Chaco Culture National Historical Park in New Mexico, Acadia National Park in Maine, Hawai’i Volcanoes National Park in Hawaii, and Denali National Park and Preserve in Alaska
- the Presidential dollars that depict Chester Arthur, Grover Cleveland first term, Benjamin Harrison, and Grover Cleveland second term
- the Native American Dollar with the reverse featuring a Native American and horse in profile with horses running in the background
All the coins are struck at the U.S. Mint facility in San Francisco and have a ‘S’ mint mark.
Each of the U.S. Mint’s annual sets may be found through the bureau’s online store located at http://www/usmint.gov/catalog. They may also be purchased by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). This year’s set will be released at 12:00 noon ET on June 4, 2012.