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US Mint Silver Proof Set Suspensions Rise to Four
April 18, 2011 by Mike Unser · Leave a Comment
The United States Mint on Monday added two more silver sets to its suspension list, bringing the total to four. It was just over a week ago when the bureau first halted two silver sets as silver prices raced to a new 31-year high of over $40 an ounce.
The 2011 America the Beautiful Silver Quarters Proof Set is one of four sets that the US Mint has suspended due to higher silver prices.
Prices have continued to climb since then, with silver reaching as high as $43.51 an ounce in overnight markets. The fast paced increase of the precious metal has made it exceedingly difficult for the US Mint to set new prices for the first two products suspended, and resulted in the addition of the other two.
In reviewing pricing, the Mint makes certain that the melt values of its products is lower than their offering price. Also, new collector products always have significantly higher premiums than bullion coins intended for investors.
In the last round, the US Mint suspended the sale of the 2010-dated Silver Proof Set and the America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set. With the metal taking higher strides, and as expected and noted before on SilverCoinsToday.com, the Mint added each 2011-dated set to its suspension list. All four products are now listed as "temporarily unavailable" on the Mint’s online catalog.
Until there is a stabilization in precious metals prices one way or another, the four sets could be unavailable for some time. As of this writing, spot silver has fallen to $42.84 an ounce from its high of over $43. The following table provides the pricing for each of the sets at the time of their suspensions, their melt values (based on $42.84), and their latest US Mint sales figures.
|
Price
|
Melt Value
|
Difference
|
Latest Sales
|
|
| 2011 Silver Proof Set | $67.95 | $57.33 | $10.62 | 373,677 |
| 2010 Silver Proof Set | $64.95 | $57.33 | $7.62 | 561,206 |
| 2011 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set™ | $41.95 | $38.74 | $3.21 | TBD* |
| 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set™ | $39.95 | $38.74 | $1.21 | 249,844 |
*Although the Mint released the 2011 quarters proof set on April 1, 2011, it has not published its opening sales figures as of this writing.
