2013 United States Mint Limited Edition Silver Proof Set

Today, December 12, 2013 at 12:00 Noon ET, the United States Mint will open sales for the 2013 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set. The US Mint will use its new “online waiting room” feature for this product launch, suggesting that they expect heavy initial demand.

2013 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set

The 2013 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set contains eight silver coins consisting of the following:

  • 2013-W Proof Silver Eagle struck in 99.9% silver.
  • 2013-S Roosevelt Dime struck in 90% silver.
  • The five 2013-S America the Beautiful Quarters struck in 90% silver. The designs for this year feature White Mountain National Forest, Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial, Great Basin National Park, Fort McHenry National Monument, and Mount Rushmore National Memorial.
  • 2013-S Kennedy Half Dollar struck in 90% silver.

The eight coins are packaged in a protective lens and presentation case. According to the product description, the packaging has been improved compared to the prior year to better secure the coins and protect the lenses.

A maximum mintage of 50,000 units applies to this product release. The sets are priced at $139.95 each. There are no household ordering limits in place.

All of the coins included in the set have previously been available within other numismatic products, most of which remain available for sale. The seven 90% silver coins are included in the 2013 Silver Proof Set and the five 90% silver quarters are also available within the 2013 America the Beautiful Quarters Silver Proof Set. The 2013-W Proof Silver Eagle was previously available for individual sale (sold out in mid-November), but still remains available within the 2013 Congratulations Set.

As mentioned in a previous post, collectors who are not particularly focused on the limited edition packaged set can actually obtain all eight of the silver coins plus several base metal coins for a cheaper price. The 2013 Silver Proof Set containing the seven 90% silver coins and seven other base metal coins is priced at $53.95. The 2013 Congratulations Set containing the 2013-W Proof Silver Eagle is priced at $54.95. This makes for a total of $108.90, or a discount of $31.05 compared to the cost of the 2013 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set.

Despite the disincentive offered by the pricing, the US Mint seems to expect heavy initial demand for the 2013 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set. They will be temporarily closing their online catalog at 11:45 AM ET to prepare for the launch at noon. Anyone visiting the site during this time will enter the pre-launch waiting room. The waiting room will allow customers to get in line to enter the website and make their purchase.

waiting-room

Within a batch of other website improvements, the US Mint had previously announced their online waiting room, which was designed to alleviate web systems slowdowns and crashes that may occur when a high demand product is released. According to the Mint, the waiting room concept was tested with customers and received positive responses.

Last year, the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set went on sale on November 27, 2012 and took until April of the following year to sell out of the 50,000 product limit.

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Comments

  1. Wdg5 says

    I’m skipping this one much like I did for the last years issues. I think the WP set and the RP Buff were the best issues of the year and have sucked away a lot of oxygen from the other products.

  2. Ikaika says

    Thank you Michael for the detailed info. Will pass on this offering. The only coin I collect from this set is the ASE. I also dislike the $31 markup for the package itself 🙂

  3. gary says

    I agree Wdg5.

    Anyhow, the 5 ATB-P 5 ouncers from the Mint at $155 each was probably THE best buy IMHO for silver products. Just to round it out, got a 2013 silver proof quarters set too.
    Happy Holidays to ALL

  4. DCDave says

    Pass.

    Mint need to stop excess products, especially existing products that are just jumbled up in new packaging.

  5. says

    If anyone here is planning to get this product right at noon, I would definitely like to hear about their experiences with the waiting room. Perth has a similar feature but it is on the “back end” of the sale in the checkout line. I am a little nervous about how a “waiting room” just to access the catalog is going to work, especially for high demand products.

    This would have implications for the Kennedy half dollar set and probably also the baseball coins next year.

  6. vaughnster says

    Hard to believe the Mint actually thinks this will sparks any kind of initial demand at noon or after. Of all the products to test the “waiting room” on, this is the one they chose? I’ll pass and am looking forward to the Roosevelt Coin & Chronicle set. Hopefully they can ship them before Christmas 🙂

  7. Eddie says

    I am going to order this and on the 17 order the Theodore Roosevelt set.
    Really don’t understand the HATE for the S Quarters. I like them very much and they are different.

  8. Jus-a-coin-luvr says

    Already have all the coins within this offering at a lower cost than this package costs. So nothing here for me in this one today, and I agree that is it not the best offering to stress-test the “waiting room”.

  9. Brad says

    By announcing it so far ahead of time, the Mint is likely just hoping a lot of collectors log on today just to see what the “waiting room” experience is like. They won’t necessarily buy the LESPS once they get inside.

    So on the release day of a REAL highly anticipated product, how does the Mint know the “waiting room” won’t crash? Everyone will now be trying to get in there at once instead of the catalog site itself. It’s still a bogged down website subject to crashing, isn’t it? We might all find ourselves just wishing things had been left alone from the way it was before. I never got shut out of any product that I got in there and fought for. I just had to persist until I got through. It always worked out eventually, even though it once took an hour and twenty minutes (the 25th Anniversary Silver Eagle Set).

  10. Jon in CT says

    Mint New Blog wrote:
    Despite the disincentive offered by the pricing, the US Mint seems to expect heavy initial demand for the 2013 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set. They will be temporarily closing their online catalog at 11:45 AM ET to prepare for the launch at noon. Anyone visiting the site during this time will enter the pre-launch waiting room. The waiting room will allow customers to get in line to enter the website and make their purchase.

    The Mint says exactly the opposite – that the LESPS date was selected for trial of the waiting room because the “product released on this date is not expected to cause extremely high traffic.” See http://www.usmint.gov/websiteinfo/improvements/.

  11. Brian says

    I’m hoping that when the catalog comes back up some of the backordered items display as “Sold Out” on the new system.

    In particular, the Mt. Rushmore 5 oz.

  12. Sith says

    All these complaints about the test, I’m glad they did not wait for a real hot item in order to start testing

  13. Mark Rex says

    I want to be one of the first to buy this and have been running around the website for about an hour now. 11:45 has now pasted and still no waiting room – so not enough demand for even a test?

  14. Warren says

    Placed my order at 12:03. I agree with Mark, never saw the waiting room. I was waiting on the “American Eagle Silver Proof” coin page and the set didn’t show up even after 12:00. I had to go to the “Annual Coin Sets” page to find it. Then after placing my order the product did appear on the Silver Eagle page.

    Says units will be shipped on 2/21/14.

  15. Dan in Fla says

    I got a couple of these because the Mint took the time to place coins in lens. Just a sucker i guess.
    As for the waiting room I was signed in before 11:45 and never got booted. After noon my order went through without a problem.

  16. Mark Rex says

    Only the first 30 seconds were slow or buggish. I placed 10 orders of 1x each with order #s from 4235559x to 4235670x. Gmail says my first order was at 12:02. All backordered until 2/21.

    Anyone get a lower order #? I would of had my first order done faster if I didnt have to reload part 3 (Shipping address) the order process.

    The waiting room is up now with a wait of 1 min lol (after my orders)

  17. thePhelps says

    Log on was a little slower – but the transaction went ok. I agree with what some others have said. I don’t think this set was the set they expect to draw high demand – but I am sure they wanted to test the waiting room before they do have a offering that is in high demand.

  18. MarkInFlorida says

    If the on sale date is today, they should be ready to ship today or tomorrow. Why 9 more days to ship? Very poor service. They still haven’t learned.

  19. Don says

    I am also passing on this offering, as these coins are readily available for less money through other Mint products. The set reminds of the “proprietary” packaging of coins that the TV dealers use in presenting their products to their viewing audience.

  20. Dave says

    Mark, that’s not 9 days, but 2 months and 9 days! I just really don’t get that. Prelim info said ship Dec. 21 and first orders now ship in Feb????
    Also, made my purchase at 12:47 PM and my confirmation lists 12:47 AM ! These government agencies really don’t know their sasses from a hole in the ground. Same folks as ACA running it?
    At least plenty of time to cancel if silver continues to plunge.

  21. DW says

    This might have been cool if they had started it when the ATB series started. As it is now, you can’t have a complete ATB series with this…you’d be missing the first 2 years. So what’s the point of even starting to collect these?

  22. fmtransmitter says

    Stacking a big chunk of silver that will always be worth it weight vs coins that can go up or down DW…:)

  23. Brad says

    Maybe Wontaker is just expressing amazement at how the Mt. Rushmore P 5 oz. coin only took a few scant weeks to reach the sellout level. There definitely wasn’t any surprise factor involved. We all knew it was approaching the 25,000 limit.

  24. says

    Can’t wait to see the final sales numbers for Mount Rushmore. Maybe we hit the 25,000 mintage limit!

    Samuel,

    I think you’re correct about the waiting room. My guess is the first real “test” the waiting room will see is the release of the Teddy Roosevelt Coin & Chronicles set. Other possibilities where we might see the waiting room go into play is the rumored Kennedy set and the baseball coins, both of which I think will be big sellers next year.

  25. says

    I ordered ONE set today and not sure WHY? I got all of these coins already in other silver sets and for a whole lot cheaper. I did NOT order the 2012 set for the reason—made no sense to spend so much extra money! Well, I will see whether the packaging is so wonderful on this set as to inspire me to order again next year. I guess I have to carefully look over my options in 2014 as there is a problem in housing all of these fine examples that Mint sells! My collecting is not to make money but for the family to enjoy the artistry of the coins offered.

  26. fmtransmitter says

    I really like these sets and they seem to capture what we actually WANT each year. What I don’t want to do is keep buying the others then this. Why I think they moved it to May next year. Thank you Mint.

  27. says

    Samual…idk…I’ve never asked them. APMEX is offering free shipping today (Thursday) till midnight.

    What kind of gold coin are you considering?

  28. Samuel says

    i bought a buffalo 70 that day, i was watching the coins went away 1 by 1.
    i will buy a box at ebay.

    i plan to buy some cheap bu silver coins tonight. spent too much money on apmex recently. i also got a couple of unc 5* ms69, seems a waste of money.

  29. guama says

    I will pass on this offering as well. I got my mt.rush just in time. Every day it was backordered a day later. Now it says “In stock and reserved”..whew. I was getting worried I missed the boat on this nice coin. I started the set the first year and didn’t have the funds to continue. Maybe at $154 ea. it won’t break my bank to continue and fill in the blanks later (at a premium I am sure ). LOL

  30. Don says

    Keithster:

    I think I’ve figured out why the MInt website is showing 9.6 million 2013 Kennedy halves minted thus far.
    On the Mint’s main page, go to “about”. Then go to “production and sales figures”. Then go to “circulating coins production figures”. Click on the 2013 circulating coins and the various denomination coins are listed in columns.
    What I believe happened is that the 50 cents (Kennedy) figures are transposed with the next column’s N.A. $1 figures. The N.A. production total is listed as 3.64 million, while the 50 cents (Kennedy) total is 9.6 million. It should be the other way around, which would keep the Kennedy half total of 3.64 million consistent with previous years.

  31. says

    fmtransmitter,

    I do agree the Limited Edition Silver Proof Set is a nice product, but the premium they’re asking for it is just way too high. It ought to be priced around $100 (or maybe $115 if you want to be generous to the mint). I would buy this if they reduced prices, but I think maybe it’s intended more as a gift item than for “serious” collectors.

  32. KEITHSTER says

    Sorry Don but I don’t think so the 3.64 for the NA.$ is because that’s how many they made 1.82 D’s & 1.82 P’s=3.64 NA.$:) I’m sure Michael can get to the bottom of this he seems to have an in with them Mr. Wizard??? Whats going on here got a circ. report? My bet’s still on the six coin Kennedy set wasn’t the original made in 63 so they could get them out at the get go?Think that’s how I remember it but that might not be right ? But I do remember His death not birth and how we all cried like little girls all of us:( Don’t know if that could happen in this great nation now but it did back then!!! Always did like that coin glad we have it 🙂 Good luck all:>

  33. Art says

    I don’t see anything about the end of free shipping by the Mint. Maybe free shipping is in effect through Christmas?

  34. Brad says

    Wow Keithster, I didn’t realize you were that old! For some reason I got the feeling that you were younger than me (41).

  35. Brad says

    I do remember the day that President Reagan was shot, as I was in the third grade. I was in the 8th grade when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded.

  36. ABC says

    I sense that the mint has a few surprise products in store for us in 2014. I’m hoping that they release another gold UHR to commemorate the 5th anniversary of it’s release in 2009. Maybe this year they could do it in proof or reverse proof (or maybe both).

  37. Ray says

    I thought that the mint had stated that they would release a long term several year schedule for these “special” products. I really hope they follow through with that, and I hope we see it in Q1 2014.

  38. says

    @ KEITHSTER, the first Kennedy 50 cent piece was released in 1964! I was young, married and two kids just starting school when he was assassinated. We had just seen Kennedy in person a few weeks before and it was a HAPPY moment for the whole family to finally meet face to face with a president. We were “glued” to the TV for everything that went on. Oswald, officer Tippit, Jack Ruby and the funeral EVERYTHING! We were in shock that something like that could happen. We will never forget it! I don’t quite remember when the first coins came out in 1964, but saw on TV long lines of people at the banks trying to buy rolls of the fifty cent pieces. Wish I had! But they were soon SOLD OUT! I kept a few that were circulated. I recently bought TEN of these coins in capsules ($12 each) from back cover of Coin Magazine for December. Universal Coin and Bullion Co.Nice and shiny! Haven’t decided how I am going to give these as gifts next year as I will be waiting to see what the Mint is going to do for the collectors.

  39. Mercury says

    A no brainer…$154.00 for 5 oz of silver with a 30,000 mintage limit or $139.00 for 2.338 oz of silver with a 50,000 mintage limit. Come on you Mint guys…you think us collectors have no wits about ourselves. Really LOL

  40. Dustyroads says

    Keith and Brad~Man, I was in a bassinet when JFK was assassinated, and have very little remembrance of Robert’s shooting, if it were not for my older brother, I’d have no idea who CCR was. One thing that stands out in my memory was the time Richard Nixon’s name was mentioned in a high school assembly I was at, and everyone booed! I doubt we will ever see his likeness on a coin.

    On topic, I can’t get over how many people are paying high premiums for the LESPS,. Maybe I’m just slow, but my wheels are beginning to move! I may have to buy some..

  41. Mercury says

    Don’t believe the hype!!! Would you pay this much if the HSN sold it at this price? Reality check time.

  42. KEITHSTER says

    Ya I was in the third grade when it happened they rolled in tv’s and we all watched and wept real tears 🙁 Seen all the tv stuff live just thougt they had started minting the 64’s in december of 63 so as to have some ready to the banks ? I remember picking up the new penny’s and stamp’s from the postoffice next to our house but 50 cent’s was big money to a kid back then:) So ya that makes me a geezzeer I know every time I look in the mirror I ask what did you do with my keithster? Iook more like grampa each day:) But thats ok I had my fun and still here! I see Michael working on it he’ll figure it out. Good Luck To Us All:):>

  43. Mercury says

    I also was curious. I too went looking at the Ebay sales of the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Sets. And I will have to say at first glance they are somewhat impressive. Things would appears hopeful for this years’ LESPS until I recalled that it was the “sellout” of the 2012 Silver Proof Sets (being cut off at just under 400,000) that’s fanning the flames of the sell of last year’s 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof. What happened is that the U.S. Mint unexpectedly “sold-out” the 2012 Silver Proof Sets and created a panic for collectors, which meant that the Kennedy Half and the Roosevelt Dime in the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set were now key proof coins. And being that the 2012 silver proof Half and Dime are not made available via any other channels except through the Silver Proof Set which sold out early and the 2012 Limited Edition Silver Proof Set, explains the present high premiums being paid for the 2012 Limited Edition Set. Besides that…because of the 2012 Proof Kennedy Half and the Roosevelt Dime’s low mintage, they have been doing rather well in the secondary market as a breakout Graded coin. As it stands, I can’t see at the present mintage levels, that any of the coins in the 2013 Silver Proof Sets will end up being key date coins, and because of this I would think it will have severe implications on its overall secondary market appeal. The present value of the 2013 LESPS is just not there except for maybe being given out as an expensive gift. IMHO

  44. Dustyroads says

    Mercury~Have you seen the 20 or 30 bids @ $200.+ on Ebay for the 2012 LESPS’s in OGP? That’s not a huge premium, but it’s still $30.+ per. after fee’s.

  45. Dustyroads says

    Keithster~Geezer? I don’t think so! I read an article some time back about the hoarding that took place with the Kennedy halves, the writer claimed that the demise of the half dollar can be traced back to that moment in time. We can attest to how cool a half dollar was to hold, we knew it was a lot. That reminds me, I like to preserve old documents when I come across interesting ones. You would be amazed at what people in my little town paid in taxes in 1915, and who owned a car or a mule. I have the tax records from that year, most people paid in the neighborhood of a half dollar per year in taxes, except for the railroad. Talk about devaluation!

  46. Mercury says

    Dustyroads – With everything going for the 2012 LESPS as for as measurable collectable value because of the Key Date coins it contains and only a $30 profit? That doesn’t beau well for the 2013 LESPS, which at present has no merit value bases on the availability of its featured coins. I gather from your comment that you agree.

  47. Mercury says

    The thing of it is, the US Mint has got smart about selling coins. Now they have become the flipper and have completely absorbed any measurable premium with each sell. The downside is that the everyday collector just to purchase coins form the Mint now pays “sellout” prices for items with high mintages. That was not the case in years past. I’m glad I’m at the tail end of my coin-collecting day. Don’t know how the “Novice” collectors going to be able to stay in the game?

  48. Dustyroads says

    I would buy two of these sets as gifts this year, but can’t justify it at the Mint price…… If you are in the tell end of your collecting days, maybe you should consider liquidating the less liked, or valuable of you collection and give yourself a gift, cleaning house can be fun.

  49. Art says

    Darek,
    It looks like the free shipping did not end today at 5pm. They will probably continue it through at least Christmas.

  50. Mercury says

    Sorry Dustyroads about the long pause. I’ve tried twice now, but the news blogs monitor has not yet decided to publish my reply to your question on my end of coin collecting days. Perhaps it is too real for prime time, or perhaps this is one of the problems facing us coin collectors; we are now only being told what they want us to hear? I’ll wait and see if he publishes my reply. Peace out

  51. Nick says

    @ mercury, I could not have described the value of the 2012 lesps better. Also I clicked the link u just put up and I enjoyed it as well. Well put

  52. Darek says

    Art did you placed an order after 5pm?
    I placed 4 orders just before 5pm for the First Spouse coins because I wanted to save 4.95

  53. Dustyroads says

    I absolutely agree, collections should be built carefully over time. It’s so hard to to stay focused for the long run and avoid the usual trap of simply spending money as though we were programed to…..no, that would never happen. Anyway, no other person will ever appreciate what you have toiled for as much as you will, so please, if everyone is taken care of, remember why you started you collecting in the first place! What is soil, that we would clasp it in our hands and form the world as we know it, so a generation can disrespect it before finally learning to appreciate it? I’m just saying that you are a good man, who shouldn’t forget about himself. You have many options for liquidating, there are a lot of fine people who belong to the coin collecting community who will who will never take more than 10% under the fair trade value.

  54. Dustyroads says

    I didn’t end that well. What I mean is, there are a lot of good, decent, coin dealers who will treat you with the respect you deserve, and pay you a fair price based on a fair value, at no more than 10% under your coins value. That’s not a bad deal for a high volume seller.

  55. Mercury says

    Hey Dustyroads if you know how I might get in touch with that guy drop me some sort of web address. Thanks a bunch for your thoughtfulness and kind consideration regarding this matter.

  56. Dustyroads says

    Personally, I would talk to the owner of a store in San Antonio:
    Texas Coins
    6866 Bandera Road
    P.O. Box 680172
    San Antonio, TX 78268
    210-256-2646

    texascoins@swbell.net

    You can ask for Larry or Jack Copeland. Of course I doubt you live anywhere close to SA, but the last time I dealt with them, I was impressed. And I know you may have just been sarcastic in your last post, but I guess I look for the good in people.

  57. Robert says

    I like the Limited Edition Silver Proof Sets. I bought one in 2012, and except for the inferior packaging (the coins tendency to fall out of the cardboard holder slot), was happy with it. I purchased a couple of the 2013 sets. The 2013 sets had coin capsule improvements, but I ended up returning the set for a replacement a couple of times due to scratches and scrapes on the face, and rear plastic housing. The coins were fine, but the packaging was subpar. US MINT paid the return shipping, so it cost me some time and effort, but at least the Mint stepped up and paid the return postage without hassle. Clearly a quality control and inspection issue. Hope 2014 is better.

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