US Mint Silver Coin Suspensions, West Point Silver Eagle Set Price Cut

United States Mint suspensions continued through last week for three of its collector products containing silver coins. The U.S. Mint also announced a reduction in price for the upcoming 2013 American Silver Eagle West Point Two-Coin Set. Both situations are due to sinking silver prices.

On Monday, April 15, 2013, the U.S. Mint temporarily suspended the following three products for re-pricing:

• 2013-W American Eagle Proof Silver Coin
• 2012 US Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set
• 2012-P Chaco Culture ATB Five Ounce Uncirculated Silver Coin

From the top to the bottom of the list, the three products had pre-suspension prices of $62.95; $229.95; and $59.95.

The 2012 Annual Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set contains six dollar coins, with its 2012-W American Silver Eagle Uncirculated Coin the key to its suspension as the remaining five coins are composed of standard clad metals — the other five are the four 2012 Presidential $1 Coins and the 2012 Native American $1 Coins.

These suspensions came as the London fixing for silver plunged to $23.54 an ounce on Monday for a loss of $3.86 from the Friday earlier. The precious metal through this latest Friday ended down $3.74, or 13.6%, from a week ago. Silver has yet to stabilize. Based on past U.S. Mint silver coin suspensions, it seems likely that the three products will not return until there is some stabilization. The Mint does not want to be in a position of resuming product sales only to have to halt them quickly again should silver suddenly shoot lower or higher.

On Friday, the U.S. Mint did send a notice to news organization saying the price of the 2013 American Silver Eagle West Point Two-Coin Set moved to $139.95 from $149.95. However, since its scheduled release date is on May 9, 2013, it is susceptible to further changes in price before launching.

This set is a highly anticipated by collectors as it contains a 2013-W Reverse Proof American Eagle Silver Coin and an 2013-W Enhanced Uncirculated American Eagle Silver Coin, with the latter being a first ever offering that is produced using new polishing and laser frosting methods. Both of these silver coins are struck at the U.S. Mint facility at West Point.

Of note as of this writing, the United States Mint has not suspended other products containing silver coins, including the Girl Scouts and 5-Star Generals Silver Dollars, the America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Sets from 2012 and 2013, the 2012 Making American History Coin and Currency Set that has a San Francisco Mint proof Silver Eagle and the 2012 US Mint Limited Edition Silver Proof Set that has a standard annual proof Silver Eagle from West Point.