My son keeps saying he really wants a proof set for 2026 because of the special coins for the 250th anniversary. I was looking at the mint's website, and I see they have a 2026 proof set advertised at $107! Holy crap! I admit it's been a few years since I bought a mint set but I was thinking like $15 maybe. In my experience mint sets have very little value, dealers don't want them, it's just something for grandparents to buy for kids who then put them in the back of a drawer. When did prices get so high? An uncirculated set is $124! I just can't see paying those prices.
Not my area of expertise and you could very well buy it on the secondary market in a few years for half today's price....but in the scheme of things it's NOT alot of $$$ if your son wants it and if it gets him interested in learning about and collecting coins.
He's already interested in coins so that's not the problem. The problem is he has expensive taste and no money.
There's only going to be one of these sesquentenial or whatever it's called. 250 years... I remember all the hype surrounding the Bicentennial and I'll bet that virtually every coin or Mint product did nothing appreciation-wise. I could be wrong, but I doubt it.
Seems like when David J. Ryder got in as mint director the prices for mint products slowly increased in price. Year after year the prices for mint and proof sets climbed to the astronomical, price gouging eminence of today. Base metal (mint sets) are vastly and ridiculously overpriced putting them out of reach for many young collectors. When I was a YN they were affordable. Not any more. That is why I decided to end my 'modern' collecting at the end of 2025. The mints' gimmicked influx of shinny disks with excessive pricing and comic book characters have turned me off. I'll stick with the classics and if there is anything 'modern' that slightly appeals to me I shall seek it two or three years down the road......
That was me when I was 15. Sometimes, it still sounds like me! If he is old enough to work, maybe y'all could work out a deal that benefits both of you.
He's 9. We're trying to come up with a chore/allowance system but he also wants baseball cards and those aren't cheap anymore either. And I have another son who is almost 4 and it feels like if you buy a set for one you should get it for the other too. I just can't believe how high these are. It's not that I expect it to make a huge profit someday. I know it won't and that's a big reason I don't want to pay so much. If it was a silver proof set you'd at least know it would have some intrinsic value.
Even with lower prices "back then," my dad regrets buying mint sets for all of us children. He wishes he would have instead bought silver proof sets. My 1995 set is basically worth face value. Nine years old sounds like a good time to start learning practical financial advice. I had to stop and think recently when, after my five year old (my oldest) broke something, he said, "That's okay. We can just buy another one." I decided, no, I had better not! I don't want my children thinking that everything around is easily replaced. I wish my parents had better taught me how to handle money. I am still learning, but my wife had better financial sense than me when got married. I had the idea, "if you want it, buy it at the best price." My wife thought, "Do you even NEED this?" That was a new one to me. I agree. The mint is charging a crazy amount for common change. 5x-7x face value seems like more than enough for an uncirculated set.
I know exactly what you mean. My son often has the attitude like if he loses/breaks something we'll just get another one and I hate that. I was raised in a lower middle class family that couldn't always buy everything and I grew up with mentality of always trying to be smart with money. I bought a silver proof set for the year my oldest was born, 2016. I think it was around $50. When my youngest was born in 2022 I was going to do the same thing and it was twice as much or more. I feel bad not getting it but I just couldn't justify it.
I stopped buying from the mint this year. When they sent me the email about the 2026 mint and proof sets, I asked to be removed from their mailing ist.
The mint recently adjusted prices after the huge spike in precious metals. Anything containing gold or silver got ridiculously expensive. For reasons that aren't entirely clear, everything that doesn't contain gold or silver also got ridiculously expensive.
My first mint purchase was a 1959 Proof Set. It cost $2.10. I quit buying from the US Mint about 15 years ago. They are making ballast that nobody wants. The USPS is the same with the wallpaper they put out. Quit them earlier.
I think it's one thing to get your kid started on a Mint or Proof set...or buy one for yourself with a special situation like our 250th Bday. But as an investment, yeah, probably not great unless something happens down the line as with the famous 1994-W Gold/Silver set. Buy quality, just like with financial investments. Buy a nice Proof ASE maybe. Or maybe pre-1933 gold with tons of history and stories behind the coins, especially the larger ones.
$107 is stupid money for a clad proof set. I'm thinking you could put together a 1926 set (one each cent, nickel, dime, quarter, dollar) in VF or higher for about the same amount of money. Add a circ Sesqui half for another $100 or less. Much cooler set. Buy the 2026 proof set in a few years for $40.
