A review by the United States Mint on the pricing of its products is apparently complete, the end result of which is an increase in the price for three of its silver products.
The review was undertaken earlier this month when the silver market attained record levels not seen in thirty-one years — at times reaching well over $36 an ounce. The precious metal has been progressively rising for the most part since the first few months of 2010. So much so, that an ounce of the metal was worth more than twice its value from a year ago.
In response, the US Mint initiated a pricing analysis with spokesman Michael White saying that they were "reviewing the prices of current products containing silver to make sure the market value of the silver contained in them is not now higher than the cost of the products themselves."
The Mint suspended sales of the 2010 United States Mint America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set™ pending the results of the review. This set contains five 90% silver quarter-dollars that include 0.904 ounces of the metal. When the set was first released, it had an intrinsic melt value of $16.70. Flash forward to around the time the US Mint suspended its sale and that same set had a melt value of $33.09, which was higher than its original $32.95 price.
The imbalance has been corrected. The US Mint on Friday adjusted prices on two of its current silver products and on one yet to be issued. The new prices are shown in the following table:
US Mint Silver Product Price Increases
| Silver Products |
Issue Date |
Original Price |
New Price |
Price Increase |
| 2010 Silver Proof Set | August 26 | $56.95 | $64.95 | $8.00 |
| 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set | May 27 | $32.95 | $39.95 | $7.00 |
| 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set | March 29 | $39.95 | $41.95 | $2.00 |
For reference, the 2010 Silver Proof Set contains 1.34 ounces of silver due to the 90 percent content of the precious metal within the dime, quarters and half dollar.
The US Mint has not indicated if the price on any other newer products, including the 2011 commemorative coins, will also be adjusted. For the present, increases would seem unlikely given the marketing materials the Mint sent to customers promoting them.
