Pricing for the upcoming 2012 American Eagle San Francisco Two-Coin Silver Proof Set has been decided by the United States Mint.
It will get released one week from today on June 7, 2012 for a price of $149.95. Details about the set were first revealed in April but its price was not published.
Within the two-coin set are two Silver Eagles that are struck at the U.S. Mint facility in San Francisco with each bearing a ‘S’ mint mark. These coins include a:
- 2012-S Reverse Proof American Silver Eagle, and a
- 2012-S Proof American Silver Eagle
While not officially stated, it is expected that these two San Francisco coins will only be available through the special set, and not sold separately.
Another unique aspect to the product is its declared mintage of "to demand," meaning the U.S. Mint will offer as many as collectors are willing to purchase. But with that, the two-coin set will be on sale for a limited time — from June 7, 2012 to July 5, 2012.
Pricing Higher than Expected
$149.95 is higher than many expected with a price per coin that averages to nearly $75. The standard annually released 2012-W Proof American Silver Eagle from West Point which has the ‘W’ mint mark is available today for $15 less at $59.95.
Multiplying the price of the standard proof by two offered a possible beginning area for the set’s pricing. Certainly, a bit more added on top was anticipated given the uniqueness of the Eagles and the set’s specialized two-coin presentation case which obviously costs more than a few bucks each to make.
Price Comparisons between 25th Anniversary Set and San Francisco Two-Coin Set
While an apple to apple comparison is not exactly fair, looking at the per coin premiums between last year’s 25th anniversary set and this year’s two-coin set is revealing.
Each 25th anniversary set contained five American Silver Eagle coins with two unique to the set. Its price was $299.95. While the unique coins clearly have more value, the average for each coin came to $59.99. The London Fix for silver on the set’s release day was $33.55 an ounce. Essentially, each of the five coins had an average premium of $26.44.
The pricing notice for the two-coin set that appeared today on the National Archives and gets published tomorrow on the Federal Register is dated Tuesday, May 29, 2012. The London Fix for silver on Tuesday was $28.25 an ounce. Running the math using that silver price, the average premium per American Silver Eagle in the two-coin set is $46.73, or $20.29 more than the average premiums for each of the Silver Eagles in last year’s set.
On a per coin basis, pricing for 25th anniversary set was much more attractive than this year’s set. And it was limited to a mintage of 100,000. There is no telling how many of the two-coin sets will move, but sales of more than 100,000 are expected.
While many coin collectors will gladly pay the price for unique Silver Eagles, the U.S. Mint could be in defensive mode with some of them. And collectors who were able to get the 25th anniversary set last year from the Mint are likely to be even happier today that they did.
Order Details
When the San Francisco American Silver Eagle Two-Coin Set is released, buyers may visit the United States Mint page located here to directly order it, or call 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468).
