2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set

Last week many collectors noticed a new product added to the US Mint’s release schedule. This was the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set, which was scheduled for release on November 27, 2012.

Before the end of the week, the product was removed from the listing of upcoming products without explanation. Today, pricing for the product of $149.95 has been published in the Federal Register.

The removal of the product from the schedule does make the status unclear. In the past, some products have been removed from the schedule only to later reappear, other products have reappeared with a different release date, and in a few instances products have been canceled.

Update: The product has been added back to the schedule with the same release date of November 27, 2012.

Before the product was removed from the schedule, a reader managed to obtain some preliminary details about the set which were shared in the comments to this post. The details were provided by a representative on the US Mint’s 1-800 number.

According to this information, the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set will include the following proof coins:

• American Silver Eagle with W mint mark
• 5 Quarters in 90% silver
• 1 Half Dollar in 90% silver
• 1 Dime in 90% silver

The sets would carry a 50,000 maximum mintage. As stated above, the pricing would be $149.95.

I have not been able to officially confirm this information yet. Also, a call to the 1-800 number this morning did not yield any information. As the product has been removed from the schedule, the representative would not provide any details or confirm a release date, although she assumed the product would still be released at some point.

There has already been some discussion about the set in comments to other posts. The price of the set is high compared to other packaging options. The full 2012 Silver Proof Set which would also contain non-silver $1 coins, the cent, and the nickel is priced at $67.95. When last available, the 2012-W Proof Silver Eagle was priced at $59.95. This makes for a total of $127.90, or $22.05 less than the cost of the Limited Edition Silver Proof Set.

In the past, the US Mint has offered limited mintage specially packaged proof sets which were priced above the total price of individual options. From 1983-1984 and 1986-1997, the US Mint offered the Prestige Proof Set which contained the coins of the regular proof set, along with one or more commemorative silver dollars and/or half dollars. From 1992-1998, the US Mint offered the Premier Silver Proof Set, which contained the same exact coins as the regular Silver Proof Set, but in a fancy packaging style. (I recently wrote about this product type here.) From 2005 to 2008, the American Legacy Collection was offered, which included the coins from the regular proof set plus one or more commemorative silver dollars. Here’s the Mint News Blog post on the 2008 version which was priced at $29.10 above the cost of the individual components of the set.

Unless the US Mint does something unexpected with the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set, it will probably not be a very strong seller. In recent years, collectors have shown less of a tendency to chase after different packaging options of the same coins, although the US Mint continues to pursue the strategy.

Another update: Here is the preliminary product page on the US Mint website. The details mentioned above are correct. In addition, there will be an initial ordering limit of 2 sets per household and shipping is expected to begin in Spring 2013.