It's just a supply and demand thing. It was the first year of the state quarter series and the silver proof set just became very popular. But, there weren't that many made...and the cost went up. Simply supply and demand.
1999 9 pc = 804,965 2000 10pc = 965,421 2001 10pc = 889,696 2002 10pc = 982,229 Yes there were less made and it was the original year of the quarters, but at that much of a premium over the others? Do you think people are buying it to try and make a quick turn dollar or to actually collect. I really only want the quarter set and bought it, I was just suprised by the premium I had to pay.
For some reason the demand is just higher. The demand is higher for the clad proof set too...although not to the same extreme. I bought a clad set from the mint and still have it...and last time I checked it was worth quite a premium too. I think it was just the first year of the series. I wonder if a lot of "non-collectors" bought them from the mint that year and have hung of to them creating a collector shortage. I don't know though.
1999s silver mint set -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Why is this the set that is so sought after? Because it would be the only one in existance. However, there are popular PROOF sets that are also widely sought.
Supply and demand plus,,, Supply and demand plus,,, every complete state quarter collection must include one. There is also like every other post 1964 mint made set large numbers of them sitting in little ole mens (or ladies) garage or closet by the thousands in boxes of 10, 25, 50 or 100 that are never opened and many do not even know this one will bring them a premium as most will not. Those that do know are probably holding them in hopes they go up much more which they will not. People need to learn just how much of this stuff is out there - I'm talking about tractor trailer loads here. The current price indicates what dealers will pay for the current number of them floating around. There is also the popularity angle, some items just become popular and some don't - the 99 silver set is a "good one" in all this mint produced modern stuff don't ask me why it just is.
Bingo. Also, when they first came out with the 99 series, the quarter sets were not sold separately like they were soon after. So you had to buy the whole set to get the quarters set. Any individual quarter sets you buy now are from a full set that got broken up. For later total mintages, you have to total the complete silver sets with the quarters and the quarters sets sold separately. I'm only missing the 99 set myself. At those prices, I decided to wait and see what happens as the popularity dies down a little.
Well if there were 160,000 more people that started this series in 2000, they of course would need to buy the 1999 set to complete it. And then you add the new collectors from later years that are working backwards, the original collectors that stopped collecting but have not sold their set. You have a major supply issue. As said already it's just supply and demand.
