Only hours remain to order the 2013 American Silver Eagle Two-Coin Set from West Point. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I dropped by the West Point Mint Tuesday and watched as they were made. I gotta say, photos of the enhanced uncirculated Silver Eagle — the key coin in the set — just don’t do them justice.
If you’re even a casual collector and have the money, get one of these sets. I can’t imagine you’ll have any regrets.
Struck to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the West Point facility in New York, the two-coin set went on sale May 9 and goes off sale Thursday, June 6, at 5 PM ET. Its price is $139.95. Visit this U.S. Mint product page to place an order.
While visiting the Mint with Coin World and a CNBC crew, I took many photos of American Silver Eagles. I was hoping to capture the uniqueness of the enhanced uncirculated coin in a way not seen in the high resolution images published by the U.S. Mint. They use a Nikon microscope that certainly shows a coin’s details, but these images seem "flat" compared to having coins in hand.
I’m afraid my shots were disappointing as well. The one I liked best, shown at the top of this article, is a photo of enhanced uncirculated American Silver Eagles straight from a press. It was taken off center with light hitting the coins at different angles. In it, you can see the varying finishes that resulted from a new polishing and frosting technique applied to dies that strike the coins.
Sales of the two-coin sets are at 233,378 as of around 3 PM ET on Tuesday, according to the Mint’s ordering odometer. There is no mintage or household ordering limits, but coins will not be available after 5 PM on the 6th. The U.S. Mint is not selling these two coins separately or within another product offering.
On the road now, articles about my visit to the West Point Mint will follow, including a bit more about the die photo above, some cool photos of all the gold bars stored at the facility, the upcoming 2013-W Reverse Proof American Buffalo gold coin that celebrates the centennial of James Earle Fraser’s design and the nifty automated coin encapsulating and packaging machines the Mint uses.
