Proof Sets: Lame?

I'm with the others that tell you to not worry about it . Collect what you like . If your total interest is purely investment motivated , well than you may want to have a better understanding of investment type Coins , which clearly these are not .

 

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I agree with this. I have picked up the silver mint set every year since I graduated high school (95) and this year's price just made me angry. It was almost 70 bucks FROM the mint itself. What in the world?

Although, when I was down on my luck, and my wife wanted to go to an expensive concert... the `95, `97 and `99 silver proof sets sold for WAY more than paid. Another positive is that I can buy them back now and still have made over 200% profit.

 

I don't know how these 2011 Silver's will do? These are top dollar premiums, but I do see a time where we will all lose money on these. (Like the moment we hit puchase on the website)... Like above, buy to invest and store them nice...
I like to roll the dice on the potential error sets for five bucks! Easy way to make a few bills if the seller doesn't know anything about them... So far no luck

 

I'm prepared to take a hit , if that be the case. I doubt I'll be trying to sell these anyway . When I croak, it will someone else's windfall .

 

Niceeeee.... Don't tell my wife, but I buy to collect as well with zero thoughts of selling them right now! I also use the "OUR" investment on the wife on the big purchases... I just dropped three bills in the BEP gift shop last week, and telling her that in tens years this will buy you a car honney...LOL...

 

Women have a very long memory. They remember everything you say. Stuff you forget, they remember. Fair warning........

 

Great responses from all the coin talkers. Thanks.

I agree that at current prices, they are a great value.

As an example you can pick up a 2004 silver proof set off ebay for around 42.00 at a BIN price. You can probably get one around $40 for an unrestricted auction.

The melt value alone is around $38.00. And look at how pretty these coins are!

 

A couple of months ago when the price of silver began going ballistic, and I refused to pay the premium that was being places on ASE's, so I began to buy Silver Proof Sets (2002 - 2007) on eBay for below melt value.

The (2002 -2007) Silver Proof Sets were the least expensive way to buy silver.

The Mint has raised the price on the Silver Proof Sets since 2008 to the point that I will not buy them any more. This is a shame because I really like the look of these sets. I don't think that I will live long enough to be able to sell these sets and recover the Mint's premiums.

The Mint's current pricing with very high premiums is creating very low mintages for popular sets and chasing away new collectors. When young collectors find that the sets that they purchased 5, 10, and 20 years ago are worth less than they paid for them, they will stop collecting. The Mint is shooting themselves in the foot with their current premiums. The Mint's current pricing is reducing the number of collectors. Maybe the New Director of the Mint will fix this.

 

I believe that the melt value of a 2004 Silver proof set is $41.47 with Silver @$30.20

There is 1.33823 oz of silver (dime; 5x quarters; and half) Plus $1.06 face value of non silver coins.

Thus this set is still selling at Melt Value! A great Bargin!

 

If you truely like the coins, then that is all that matters. Don't worry about the list prices, or what others say about these sets. The truth is they are very collectable, and come in their own cases.

 

You hit the nail on the head! Many sets are purchased in bulk, cherrypicked, then recombined with inferior coins to round out the sets for resale.

I buy ten (10) silver proof sets from the Mint each year...on the first day of sales...and then salt them away. I especially like the silver proof Kennedy half and Roosevelt dime; the silver proof set is the only place to find them. :thumb:

I have to admit, I really don't like the post-2004 laser frosting technique. Compare those coins under magnification to the older, sand blast technique and you'll see a world of difference. The newer coins just look cheesy ...imho.

I like the Premier sets (1992-1998) because they're more difficult to cherrypick, have a beautiful sand blasted frosting, and (as the OP says) can be purchased at a nice price.

 

I agree that the new frosting technique is attrocious. I have a hard time dealing with the Washington quarter obverse as it looks like a blur. I'm trying to be nice here, but there's no detail whatsoever. Compare these quarters to a 2000 proof quarter and make up your own mind about these coins.

No matter what I think, the US Mint will go the way of their technology , sacrificing the quality of their products.

Their production values has caused me to reduce the amount of their products that I'll buy, to ONLY one of only those I really like or still want to collect.

Today, I got 2 sets of the Silver Proof sets and, although they are quite nice, I wish I only ordered one set. I'll cut my subscription for ALL their coins to one from now on. If I want more I'll buy them where I can.

Bruce