If my information is correct, the US Mint raised the issue price on the Silver Proof Set from $31.95 in 2003 to $37.95 in 2004. That's a pretty big price increase considering they just added one more proof nickel that year. Big deal. And despite the $6 price increase, the mint actually sold MORE silver sets in 2004 than they did in the previous year (1,167,900 vs. 1,146,050.) How is that possible? Can it be that "money is no object" to the bulk of the mint's customers? I'm wondering if history will repeat itself with high sales of the 2005's too. I notice the Mint seems to be advertising the silver sets a lot recently.
If you numbers are correct, I am surprised that the 2004 silver sets did not outsell 2003 by more. The addition of the nickel designs should have sparked more interest in all of the proof sets in my opinion. I do not believe money is no object to most collectors, but the speculative side in many collectors has led to many people purchasing more sets to just hold or sell for a premium when the Mint closes production. 2005 should be a great year for the Mint as far as sales.
I think The price difference may be because the mint Is trying to use the high price of the 2001 silver set as promotion to buy silver proof sets and I think Its working because silver proof sets are becoming increasingly popular.
At the time of the increase silver was on the way up and the mint used that as the driving factor for the increase. After the announcement was made silver started dropping back to current levels. Guess the MINT forgot to drop their prices as well?
