United States Mint 2014 Birth, Happy Birthday, and Congratulations Sets

Tomorrow, January 14, 2014 at 12:00 Noon ET, the United States Mint will begin sales for a trio of special occasion sets. This includes the 2014 Birth, Happy Birthday, and Congratulations Sets.

These special occasion sets are likely released in January in order to be available for gift giving occasions throughout the year. They may attract some added attention since the sets will represent the first appearance of several 2014-dated coins including the 2014 Proof Silver Eagle.

2014 Birth Set

The 2014 Birth Set is intended to serve as a gift to mark the arrival of a newborn. Each set includes the following five proof coins struck at the San Francisco Mint and carrying the “S” mint mark:

  • 2014-S Proof Lincoln Cent
  • 2014-S Proof Jefferson Nickel
  • 2014-S Proof Roosevelt Dime
  • 2014-S Proof Great Smoky Mountains National Park Quarter
  • 2014-S Proof Kennedy Half Dollar

The 2014 Birth Set (along with the simultaneously released 2014 Happy Birthday Set) will mark the first appearance of four coins. The 2014-dated proof cent, nickel, dime, and half dollar have not yet been released within any other products.

All five coins of the set are mounted in an illustrated folder which includes spaces for a welcome message, the date/time of birth, length/width of the baby, a photograph, and a lock of the baby’s hair. A certificate of authenticity and coin specification information are included an outer sleeve.

The product is priced at $19.95, with no product or household ordering limits imposed. The US Mint has previously offered Birth Sets in 2012 and 2013, which have sold 47,864 and 34,763 units to date. repectively. Both products still remain available for sale.

2014 Happy Birthday Set

The 2014 Happy Birthday Set is targeted as a numismatic gift for a birthday. Each set includes the following five proof coins struck at the San Francisco Mint and carrying the “S” mint mark:

  • 2014-S Proof Lincoln Cent
  • 2014-S Proof Jefferson Nickel
  • 2014-S Proof Roosevelt Dime
  • 2014-S Proof Everglades National Park Quarter
  • 2014-S Proof Kennedy Half Dollar

These coins are the same as the previous set with the exception of the quarter. For the former set, the first design release of the year is included, while this set contains the final design of the year.

Together with the previous set, this represents the first availability of the 2014-dated proof cent, nickel, dime, and half dollar. These four coins will not be available within another product until the release of the full annual 2014 Proof Set on March 25, 2014.

The 2014 Happy Birthday Set features packaging illustrated with images of gift boxes and balloons, with a space for a personalized message. Priced at $19.95, there are no product or household ordering limits imposed.

The US Mint introduced the Happy Birthday Set last year. The 2013-dated set has sold 9,876 units and remains available for sale.

2014 Congratulations Set

The 2014 Congratulations Set can celebrate any occasion, including weddings, anniversaries, retirements, graduations, or milestone birthdays.

Each set includes one 2014 Proof American Silver Eagle struck at the West Point Mint and carrying the “W” mint mark. The coin is mounted in a folder including images of gold and silver ribbons with a space for a personalized message. The back of the folder includes a certificate of authenticity and coin specifications.

The set is priced at $54.95 with no product or household ordering limits imposed.

This product may see some added interest as an early release of the eagerly anticipated 2014 Proof Silver Eagle. The individual proof coin in standard packaging is scheduled to be released on January 23, 2014 and will be priced at $52.95.

The US Mint introduced the Congratulations Set last year. The 2013-dated set has reached sales of 15,366 and still remains available for sale.

Facebook Twitter Email

BEFORE YOU COMMENT:

  1. Mint News Blog is not a retail website. If you wish to buy a coin or banknote, you should contact a reputable dealer. One of our sponsors (see ads at left and top of page) may also have what you’re looking for, so be sure to check out their websites.
  2. Per policy, we do not advise on the value, authenticity, or rarity of readers’ coins and banknotes. For this kind of assistance, you should contact a reputable dealer, preferably one who’s certified by the American Numismatic Association and/or the Professional Numismatists Guild.
  3. Vulgar and/or abusive comments will not be tolerated. Nor will trolls.
  4. Allegations of fraudulent or criminal activity against a named party, when said activity has not been proven in a court of law, will be removed.

Comments

  1. HIdalgo says

    Remember – the packaging can make a difference to consumers. In turn, the packaging can increase (or decrease) demand for sets.

    If you’re interested only in the coins, there will be other options available as the year progresses….

  2. Dustyroads says

    This as a gift to the parents of a newborn is a token gift at best. It it were given to my wife and I, I may be inclined to wonder, “where’s the gold”?

  3. HIdalgo says

    Think 25th wedding anniversary (or belated and projected anniversaries). Silver will be the perfect gift!

  4. oldfolkie says

    Now wait a minute, we need pennies for the same reason we needed coins worth 1/10 of a cent in the 60s. Oh, that’s right we didn’t have them then, and I don’t think we needed 1/2 cent, two cent, or three cent pieces then either. The penny is so much more than worthless, it is a cost eating drag that serves as perfect example of how wasteful and out-of-touch we are.

  5. fmtransmitter says

    Even if one were to order the Congrats set in hopes of getting a Proof Eagle sooner, IMO it won’t ship until the regualr ones and maybe even later…

  6. SilverFan says

    Not for me. I buy coins not packaging. As for gifts, I tend to gift cash unless they have a registry. IMO, better to give something people want/need than something that will sit in a closet, dresser, attic or basement for years.

  7. SoapyJD says

    Seven BILLION cents were minted in 2013. It seems to me that a great deal of the annual labor costs ( half ) of the US Mint is spent producing them. If the US Mint did NOT make all these pennies, could they save a bunch on annual labor cost? Things that make me say “Hmmm.”

  8. Dustyroads says

    High low, Sorry if I offended you, but it’s really a small amount of silver, not much worth. On the other hand, I guess one could give a roll of the AtB’s 5 oz. to go along with it. Now, that would be an awesome gift!

  9. Don says

    Why not just give someone a regular Mint issued Proof Silver Eagle in its presentation box to celebrate these celebratory occasions? It would be a lot more impressive than the packaging of these Sets. Besides, why let the Mint decide for you what coins should make up a Birth and Happy Birthday Set?

  10. high low silver says

    Dusty: I don’t look a gift horse in the mouth, most of my favorite gifts come from the heart……..I can tell the commitment that was applied to it. I hope this helps….. My coin hobby isn’t about what do you have, that I desire.

  11. Nick says

    Speaking if pennies I have a 199? Cent that the obverse is barely struck. The reverse is normal as are the rim. What’s the story on this. Grease filled die? Or error? Is it worth more than .01$???

  12. high low silver says

    NOW FM !! What do you want for that VF Barber half ?? Ill give you $10 delivered !!LOL

  13. AkBob says

    Not for me as well. The one in the top picture just looks tacky. The top one looks like something you would buy out of FingerHut. I can see why folks would want to get something but can’t they come up with something better? Don’t look at me as I’d do even worse than what we got! LOL Sorry if I offened anyone but that’s just my opinion and how I feel about it.

  14. high low silver says

    I know what this blog is about, and your not offending me. ( I don’t want to give you a gift in the 1st place) If you don’t want it……DON’T BUY IT !!!!

  15. Alfred E. Numismatic says

    The birthday set reminds me of the Hogan’s Heros espisode where was Hitler’s birthday, & Colonel Hochstetter is befuddled by the special gift where Hogan’s crew made a pop gun that shot out a cork & miniature nazi flag, & Hochstetter exclaims
    “Happy Birthday Adolf????”.

  16. KEITHSTER says

    Come on Dusty I think you know where the gold is:) just go check your stash we know the Gen is in there. And what’s with all the penny bashing we all are coin collectors here right? Sure they cost a lot to make but they are coins think of them as our 7 billion little ambassadors working the crowd bringing the newbies in to the hobby?Sure they made a lot but these self-destruck and in the long run they may turn out to hard to find in good shape. So get them if you can 100 for a dollar unc US coins what a deal:) And if the mint wasn’t so busy making them all think of all the other stuff? we would have to buy ouch.Sorry but I think they could run a real circ. test make 2 billion each out of ten different combo’s their choice and let them go! That would beat last years load and give the penny hater’s a run for their money but make us coin likers something to smile about:):):) Or just forget about the lowly penny and spend it on something else like war or whatever they spend the money on? Good luck all we need it :>:>

  17. Jerry Diekmann says

    All cents issued since 1982 are worthless. The zinc in them corrodes very easily and even though “biliions and billions” (thank you, Carl Sagan, RIP) of them were made, most of them have self destructed or become lost within just a few years. I try to save a few of each year when they are new. Once they are in circulation they corrode very quickly. There really is no reason any more to make them – they have no purchasing power and prices can be rounded up or down to the nearwst 5 cents or 10 cents and the net effect will be zero, except taxpayers will save millions of $ every year by not having the Mint make cents (which makes sense – pun intended). Put Lincoln on another coin – all the other dead presidents have been on coins over 25 years, even 50 years now. Or just drop him (and all the dead presidents) in favor of visages of liberty or maybe other famous Americans – Like TR, MLK Jr., Jonas Salk, A. Hamilton, etc. etc. etc.

  18. fmtransmitter says

    Why do insist on grading my Barber VF? I will notify you when it comes back what it graded at. It is higher than VF I assure you.

  19. fmtransmitter says

    We need penny’s to get the next generation into coin collecting. Just not any after 1982 please.

  20. says

    re: the penny

    While I agree that minting billions of pennies is not a good idea….I disagree with those of you that say we should just “round everything up” and it won’t cost anything.
    Think about it…say a candy bar cost 99 cents, so we round it up to
    $1…but then my 6% sales tax brings the total to $1.06…but hey, we don’t recognize cents, so we need to round this purchase up to $1.10…so now I’ve paid a 10% tax???? Does the retailer or the State collect that extra 4 cents?

    I think cents make sense to me…lol

  21. VA Bob says

    I say keep the cent in mint and proof sets, only for collectors. These are the only cents that make more for the mint than the cost of manufacture. Of course return to the 95% copper 5% zinc composition since we are paying a premium for them.

    As you all know, the US doesn’t demonetize any coins or currency (any coin can be spent at face value, if one is so inclined). This would spark sales for the annual sets, as it would be the only place to get a cent. It keeps the penny people happy and the ‘get rid of the cent’ people too.

  22. VA Rich says

    thePhelps – that maintenance action on Saturday.., not sure what it did to clean up subscriptions, though it did put an end to us viewing the raw sales figures before the Tuesday sanitization.

    Oh, and concur, come the apocalypses, they all spend the same! I’ll pass –

  23. Dustyroads says

    Jerry, man are you correct, zinc pennies are self destructing for sure as we speak. Copper pennies are so much more appealing with their strong strikes and beautiful metal flows. I found a 1968 S Lincoln yesterday that was so perfect, I think it would grade maybe MS65.
    Nick, I found one like the one you have about a year ago, they are quite rare.

  24. VA Rich says

    Keithster – you crack me up Sir! That’s the first time two years you’ve deviated from “Good luck to us all” …, now to, “we need it” – for some reason that’s just hilarious! And I agree…, we need lots of it! More good luck for 2014!

    Anybody thinking we’re 31,000 sold on the Unc $1 set? I’m thinking so…

  25. Im just a bill says

    Weren’t all of the 2009 penny’s 95% copper? or just the ones in the mint rolls for $9 ie the LP’s 1,2,3 and 4? or am I mistaken?

  26. Dustyroads says

    That’s entirely up to you. If it has some really strong eye appeal that may make it extra interesting, then you may decide to, but it probably will good do just fine in your protective cover. These aren’t errors that bring a great deal of cash, but it is an error regardless.

  27. Dustyroads says

    Im just bill, The Mint put 95% copper and 5% tin and zinc (bronze) pennies into annual and commemorative sets in 2009, but I have no knowledge of the pennies being offered in any other way by the US Mint.

  28. jhawk92 says

    fm-

    I’m interested in knowing more about your set that you are putting together, it sounds very cool.

  29. Samuel says

    received the backorder email yesterday and the shipping date stays at 1/28, did not change from yesterday, so it is coming?

    Uncirculated Dollar Coin Set (XA5)
    Product will be available for shipping 01/28/2014

  30. VARich says

    Samuel – received the same email early yesterday morning and that is what I concluded when the ship date did not move.

  31. fmtransmitter says

    @jhawk92: I already have the set. I have had it for a few weeks. I just wanted a complete classic set, nothing special or rare. Just focused on condition and picked 1904 just because we are in 2014 so makes them 110 year old coins. Penny, nickel, dime, quarter, half, dollar. All in fantastic shape. No grading planned as I enjoy them like if I was in 1904 holding them in my pocket. Pretty neat, not cheap, but not out of this world either.

  32. VARich says

    Catalog website closing up at 11:45 am today for a product lunch at noon per the mint’s website – what’s that about? Shutting things down for those products above????

  33. VARich says

    Could be this be a one of several surprises for the year? Or am I just off my rocker of “wishful thinking”?

  34. VARich says

    Sith – I’m not big on packaging, though liking the Silver AtB Qtr set packaging and per your analysis, thinking it is a good deal as well so I’ll be adding one of those, or two.

  35. Brad says

    VARich,

    Yeah, the Mint needs to prepare for the stampede of buyers who are going to fight over those new products today! 🙂

  36. Brad says

    And yeah, I’ve gotten pretty spoiled these past few weeks, being able to get that “sneak peek” of the weekly sales statistics from that excel spreadsheet! See, it appears that there really IS a Mint employee who has infiltrated our ranks! He or she reported back our conversations and speculations, and the Mint put the kibosh on it! 🙂

  37. Dave says

    Steve,

    Re : the penny and rounding

    Individual items could still be priced with cent values and the final bill AFTER TAX ADDED should be rounded to the nearest dime. Congress could do something actually useful by legislating rounding final sales totals ending in 1-4 down and 5-9 up and eliminate both the penny and nickel OR 1,2,6,7 down and 3,4,8,9 up to the nearest nickel and just eliminate the penny.
    Really simple cash register programming and save the taxpayer money ( a unique idea in D.C.)
    Agree with everyone on the copper penny in annual sets. That would make the penny a real American treasure and continue to add to Abe’s legacy!
    JMHO, but I would also like to see the Lincoln memorial returned to the reverse.

  38. VARich says

    Brad – so true! I’m having ‘sneak peek’ withdraw in a major way! I’m going to be really cranky over the next few days…, think I’ll pick fight high low tonight – haha

    I just can’t wrap my around why the site needs to come down for the launch of these 3 offerings…, oh well

  39. VARich says

    Samuel – it’s happening –

    “We apologize for the delay in accessing our Catalog website. Many customers are visiting our site concurrently.
    Please enter our waiting room to get in line to enter our Catalog website. Estimated wait times are provided. Thank you for your patience as we work to serve you better.”

    Order, order, order!

  40. thePhelps says

    I ended up in the waiting room today as well… then it started to transfer me and hung up. I gave up after waiting for a couple of minutes to be transfered to the catalogue…

    In regards to the penny – I don’t care either way. It could go away and all the rounding everyone talks about would be simply a profit stream. Nearly everyone with any imagination in finance at all would know that nothing will be 99 cents anymore – it’ll suddenly be $1.04 and rounded down to $1.00 anything that was $1.04 will be $1.09 and rounded up… eventually all the pennies and rounding will be profit – since the people that set the prices will know they are built in.

  41. fmtransmitter says

    If we DID pass any laws regarding doing away with the penny, any and all saved money should be put into a fund and go towards reducing our debt. My question is, and please help me understand, how was Clinton able to create a surplus, jobs, strong economy, etc, etc, and now we borrow billions and billions and print up worthless paper?

  42. Blair J Tobler says

    fm – it’s the magic of creative accounting. If the government were required to use the same accounting rules corporations have to, Clinton and GWB both would have had deficits around 2 trillion dollars (I read that a while back in the New York Times). They all fudge the data so they don’t look so bad. If corporations tried the crap the government gets away with, they’d be sued by the very same government!

  43. high low silver says

    I won’t update cc account on website yet. I have untill the 29th. Thanks for the # VAR !!

  44. KEITHSTER says

    Putting all the pennys to towards the dept? isn’t that what they are doing now? doesn’t seem to be working? Clinton was able to do it because He didn’t inhale remember? What’s up with the protester coins they get put in the pokey and can’t make bail sure don’t look like they’ll be out by the 15th.Good luck to us all as needed:>:>:>

  45. thePhelps says

    hls… it depends on what your definition of Is – is…

    also the correct quote is.. I did not have sex with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’… we just sat around the oval office with cigars – poking fun at each other.

  46. MarkInFlorida says

    Hey, FMT, I put together a 1904 set too, to give to my son born in 2004 when he is a little older (includes the gold). Did the same thing for the younger one born in 2009, but there’s no 1909 silver dollar unfortunately. I mostly accumulate bullion so having certain dates to look for makes a coin show more fun.

  47. high low silver says

    Hey MiF I got something of a set too…. Do u care?? I don’t…Hint…..Bust set… but this is a current mint blog. Good for your set collector !!!

  48. fmtransmitter says

    I saw the gold from that year, very nice indeed. I think hi lo is on the hi portion again..

  49. KEITHSTER says

    Sorry spoke to soon the mint called the bank and arranged the bail so they cut them loose and shipped them home thanks mint:) Also seems people are starting too warm to them 21,167 proofs & 8,689 uncs as of the 14th. yes the XLS’s #’s are in! So please stay away from these as you would’nt what to be seen as some kind of a radical would ya:>:> But Good Luck In All You Do :):):

  50. jhawk92 says

    @fm-
    Ah, very cool. I must admit I’ve stayed on the modern side of collecting, but I’m starting to get interested in some of the older coins now. I am thinking of working on a graded Peace Dollar collection, or possibly chasing some proof Franklin Halves to go with my business strike set. Not sure if I should just go with raw proofs or get them graded/sealed. My Franklin set is in a Dansco album, so I could just buy an extra half dollar page and plop the proofs in. Any advice from the group here would be appreciated.

    Could you share what coins you’ve purchased to make your 110 yr old set? I’m digging into my Red Book for research on all the older ideas. One that does interest me is a nice Double Eagle to go with my 2009 UHR.

    @ MiF
    Could you share your set as well? I like the idea of sets for kids. Mine are 2003 and 2007, so pretty close to yours. I did grab a AGE/ASE in their birth years, which, at least for the AGE, has had some decent appreciation.

  51. Ray says

    way off topic here but you guys always have pretty good thoughts about things. i was just crunching the BEP #s for $100 printed since 1980. This is very shocking to me and I triple checked everything for typos etc. All figures came from the BEP. In FY 2012 and FY 2013 the BEP printed as many $100 bills as they did from the years 1980 through 1998. So in 2 years they printed just as many of our largest denomination as they did in the 19 years between 1980 and 1998. My jaw is on the floor. What sort of repercussions will come of this? Whats the best way to hedge against the consequences of this irresponsibility? My first guess is that we’ll see hyper inflation from this, but I have no idea when. Will this cause PMs to shoot the moon? This doesnt seem like something that could be swept under the rug, but it’s been so under the radar to most of the general public, and since it just happened, we haven’t seen any real direct consequences of this irresponsibility by the Fed. Thoughts?

  52. thePhelps says

    Ray – I think the intent is to remove as many of the existing circulating 100’s as they can when they can. They especially want to get the 2013 bill into the main stream – since it is ‘theoretically” counterfeit proofed.

    While I won’t argue that the current printing of money is not healthy to the economy in the long run – we seemed to have survived 5 years of it without sky rocketing inflation… who knows what that means next week.

  53. stephen m says

    Ray, That’s what makes QE work, theory wise anyway. If your figures are correct that certainly puts QE in perspective as far as how much money 85 billion a month is for two years. It’s scarey to me now that QE is being fine tuned and maybe will be for some years to come. This takes the penny out of the spotlight for sure.

  54. thePhelps says

    stephen… QE has been going on since 2009 – not for just the past 2 years.

    Do the math on 85 billion a month for the last 5 years… not pretty at all. It is much better now that they are only spending 75 billion a month!

  55. fmtransmitter says

    My understanding is for every NEW bill printed, the same denomination OLD bill must be destroyed…

  56. VARich says

    Ray – just a thought, counterfeiting may be in part an attributor. Conterfeiting from North Korea and high end printers has become so problematic that the BEP may be attempting to replace the old legacy Franklin’s with the new high tech, security enhanced bills. I just looked at the new Franklin, wow, it has a lot going on!

  57. Eddie says

    I started my Kennedy collection yesterday I decided to use the sets I have to put it together. I have started putting them into a Dansco album. I could NOT believe how easy it is to get them open. I kinda always thought the sets were sealed shut I used my thumb nail and a knife.

    My main question is do any of you think Dansco will make a page for the 2014 Kennedy Sets can be included in the album?

  58. fmtransmitter says

    I just read a huge article about fake bust halves as I was looking at a raw example and it looked different than the others. Novice collectors should stay with certified examples as there were many fakes made and they are OLD fakes making them look very real.

  59. fmtransmitter says

    Whoever told me I was opening a huge can of worms going down the road of classics was right! Thank you!

  60. VARich says

    DDD – I am of the opinion that when the system maintenance was perform Saturday morning, the little quark that allowed us to have a pre-look at the raw data was corrected. With that said, the published sales numbers have been available since 1430 yesterday if you download the .xls file. Why those numbers have not been uploaded to the pull down tab selection…, well Partner, this is the mint’s IT were talking about here…

  61. Nick says

    Wow I have been looking at the bust halves. That’s good to know before I purchase one. I might see to get a graded one

  62. VA Bob says

    ThePhelps – I’m not a fan of QE, but I’m pretty sure QE1 and 2 were less than the $85 Billion high water mark. I’m waiting to see what happens when the presses stop. I don’t believe it will be pretty.

  63. stephen m says

    VA Bob, The presses won’t stop. They will only speed up and or slow down. That’s what i mean by calling it “fine tuning the economy”. More money printed or less printed. It depends on what the Fed thinks the economy needs. I read that Japan has been doing it like this for a number of years.

  64. thePhelps says

    stephen – yeah Japan has been and it isn’t doing a lot of good there either.

    I am no fan of printing money from nothing and saying it is a good thing. In the long run – having nearly 18 trillion in debt is not good for anything – unless you are the person the money is owed to. The only reason this is working is because interest rates are so low the debt ratio isn’t getting terribly out of hand. It will and there will be hell to pay.

  65. MarkInFlorida says

    jhawk92, I had bought a bunch of barber stuff at near melt and just pulled the 2004 and 2009s for my kids, and got those common date Indian pennies and V nickels at coins shows cheap. The gold ones were just common ones at close to melt too. I want to leave something special for each one.
    FMT there is a club of collectors of counterfeit bust halves. They are probably rarer than real ones!

  66. Jerry Diekmann says

    Dave is exactly right about the rounding if the penny were eliminated. Rounding up to the nearest 5 cents or 10 cents (if the nickel were also eliminated) results in a zero sum game – the rounding downs offset the rounding ups. believing that everything will always be rounded up is like drinking Kool Aid – wrong to do or believe.

  67. Jerry Diekmann says

    For those of you interested in building a “classic set” of US coins, I would recommend getting a type set of 20th century coins in MS63 or MS64 condition – either raw or slabbed, as you prefer – I myself prefer raw. This would give you an Indian Head cent, the three Barber coins, Morgan dollar, and the beautiful coins that came to be from 1913 to 1921 – Buffalo nickel, Winged Liberty Head dime, Standing Liberty quarter, Walking Liberty half dollar, Peace dollar, and Franklin half dollar, plus the dead President coins we still have in circulation. If you wanted to, you could add the varieties – two different Buffalo nickels in 1913, two different SL quarters in 1917, recessed date for SL quarters starting in 1925, and silver war nickels. You could improve the set by picking several coins with mint marks, but skip the 1917 Walking Liberty half dollars as they are too mexpensive for the average collector. Or just collect what you like! But I would strive to make sure that all the coins you do collect are MS63 or MS64. They stand a much better chance of increrasing in value over time than the circulated coins. In any case, beware of overgraded coins. I see many overgraded coins both raw and in slabs. Go for eye appeal!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *