I stopped by the US Mint store at Union Station today at around 1:30 pm. The man behind the counter said they had already sold 1000 proof sets. (No wonder the Mint web site is slow). The coins with the box and all (four lenses) weighs 11 oz. The individual lenses weigh 1.8 oz for the Lincolns, 2.6 oz for the "other", and 2.8 oz each for the 6-clad quarter and the 4-president sets. (Knowing weights is useful for flippers. I may have gotten burned. The set plus the box plus my bubble-padded envlope weights just a tad over 13 oz. I pre-sold a couple of sets with a pretty slim margin, never thinking in a million years it's be over 13 oz, which is the upper limit for inexpensive first class mailing. If I can't get it below 13 oz., then I've lost money on them. Oh well, live and learn). While I was there, a guy was purchasing 200 clad quarter sets (!!). I managed to ask him what he was doing, since I couldn't see how he could possibly make enough money re-selling them to justify any expenses. He said that he's going to send a ton of them off to a grading service, and when a few come back as MS-70 he'll make all his money back. The other guy behind the counter said that this problem of the "reverse flow" of coinage that we so often talk about (that coins seem to flow from people to venders and banks during times of recession, rather than the other way around -- and that's why we see so few 2009 coins, and that's why they are making so few 2009 coins) . . . is leading to old coins coming back into circulation. He said that he got a silver dime in change the other day (!!).
I've gotten two silver dimes within the past week. I hadn't seen one in years...Of course, I'm searching rolls now and didn't use to do that.....
I got a steel 1943 penny in circulation the other day. I'm not sure if I ever got one of those in my life.
For those who were able to purchase the 2009 proof set at a Mint store, can you confirm the finish and composition of the Lincoln Cents? Are they a satin finish? Zinc? Thanks.
They are "proof" finish, no? Or, perhaps I'm displaying my ignorance, there's no such thing as "proof non-satin" vs "proof satin" is there? As for composition of the cents -- I'm not sure how one can tell without cracking open the plastic lens . . . it _says_ that it's copper . . .
Phil, that is amazing. A steel penny in change? WOW. great find. That would make my day, even though I have plenty of them, but to find one like that is VERY cool.
There should be a card that came with the set that tells you the composition of all the coins in the set.
