I agree with your comments on these sets totally! The Mint for some strange reason seems to forget that kids like collecting things (I started at age 10 with foreign coins from our family military post in Japan for my first 3 years in school). The Mint officials focus on adults only it appears & we won’t always be around unfortunately. They need to take a lesson from Japanese philosophy & think long term as you basically mentioned. Young collectors spending a little money with the U.S. Mint now will result in adult collectors who spend a lot of money later!
Thanks again for the Mint updates Mr. Unser.

-NumisDudeTX

I do wish the Mint could price them cheaper because it’s a tougher sell for one on top of the $4.95 for standard shipping. If I was in charge, the birthday set is a product that I’d sell at a loss to encourage more getting out the door. Kids who receive coins as gifts are more apt to collect when they get older. They’re future Mint customers.

Thanks for the update from the Mint’s website information. Today is January 6 not January 5 as your article states in first paragraph & of course is the first day of issue of these popular U.S. Mint gift sets which make great & affordable gifts for both births & birtdays. As you stated they are the first U.S. Mint products of the new year 2016. They are a great set to give to someone to introduce them to numismatics & the U.S. Mint’s high-quality (usually, but not always) Proof coin products too. I give the birthday gift sets to my 4 nephews each year & they really enjoy them a lot.
Happy collecting everyone.

-NumisDudeTX