Concerning the 82 & 83 Mint Sets, I have the sets with the outer envelopes lettered ''Souviner Set' Philadelphia Mint, and 'Souviner Set' Denver Mint. If I am understanding this correctly the sets I have are aftermarket sets not issued by the US Mints? Are there other after market mint sets that I can collect from 1982 & 1983? Thanks, Jim
Jim, "Souviner" sets are genuine US Mint products that were sold at their respective on-site stores, In Philadelphia and Denver. They can be identified by the mint medallion that represents the Mint from which they were issued. Aftermarket mint sets were assembled and packaged by non-governmental firms and do not contain the mint madallion. There were more than a couple of different folks that sold these, but I don't know exactly how many.
Jody is correct. Many marketeers sell these sets. Watch out for the ones that claim to have MINT SETS. I have not found out the official numbers on the mint sold sets. As far as how many extras were put together by private firms is anyones guess. We see many that do not have the original envelopes, so take care of those.
Souvenir sets were also sold at both the Phily and Denver mints in other years besides '82 & '83. These sets are a quite neat collectible in their own right as the only place you could buy them was at the particular mint's Gift Shop.
