Who cares about this set? What makes it special? Well, the Mint included a little surprise with the 1996 uncirculated coin set - the 50th Anniversary FDR Dime minted at West Point!!! Not really a surprise - more of a bonus I'd say. Here's mine (I have no idea how I came to possess this...probably inherited it from Father-in-law). The U.S. Mint 1996 Uncirculated Coin Set... Envelope (front and back)... The Denver Mint Coins (obv. and rev.)... The Philadelphia Mint Coins (obv. and rev.)... The 50th Anniversary FDR Dime (obv. and rev.) in its own separate sealed blister pack...
Additonal pics. The Dime COA (front, back, inside)... The Reorder Form (front and back)... The specs for the Denver and Philadelphia coins (front and back)...
I bought 5 of those myself. I was still trying to keep my Roosevelt set complete. Hard to believe that was 24 years ago.
I sort of meant that the dime is what made it special and thus of interest. I take it you don't think anything, not even the dime, makes it special?
I know what you meant. To me, the dime is not worth the hype. 25 years ago when it was the very first W coin it may have been interesting (I was too young to know anything about it at the time). It does have a mintage of 1.5 million, so it isn't rare. They do come in PL and DPL, which is cool, but the premiums on them are high enough that I haven't really tried to get one. Nowadays, I've grown tired of the mint marketing W mint coins and trying to create interest with limited release W coins. Plenty of people disagree with me, of course.
You have to be careful buying 1996 mint sets because some unscrupulous people will extract the W dime and then sell the set as a normal set. If you buy a set always check to be sure it is all there.
I thought it was pretty cool for the mint to include the dime with the set. Everyone could get one if they wished. The Roosevelt collectors didn't have to spend much to keep their sets complete. Those doing album sets had an issue because of not having a place for the coin. Just think about the 1995 W proof silver eagle. The collector had to buy the gold set for $1000 to get the silver eagle. That was a lot for the average collector that only had to spend $20 or $30 a year to keep the set complete.
Yes, over the past ten year the average silver eagle collector had had to spend about $300 for all the proofs, and another $60 to $70 for all the business strikes. So they had Maybe $370 total in the set. Then BOOM here to commemorate the 1oth anniversary they now had to spend $1000 just to get the 95 W. Sure they could sell off the gold coins, but they would still have nearly as much in that one coin as in the rest of the set put together. A lot of silver eagle collectors quit in 1995. (Which may be one reason why the mintage of the 1996 is the lowest of all the business strike.) But eventually I think most of them did come back, but I suspect many of them don't consider the 95 W to be a needed part of the set.
I love the '96 W and appreciate how the mint included it in that set. I have a few still in the plastic. Thinking I may send one of them in as it is spectacular and if can get a 68 FB it would be well worth it.
. I believe that when this set came out the going rate was $15. ... The open market for the dime itself was $15. Lots of collectors with No interest in the dime still bought the set to then sell the dime making the set a zero-pay item. ... But I’m just sayin’. That was the story a LCS guy told me.
I am an outlier, sort of, because I preferred the hunt for the perfect Nickel, from this set. It is not easy to find.
