mintage question on south african proofs

laurentyvan

For example, the 1952 SA proof set (PC25-9 coins) shows a mintage of 3,500; Krause shows mintage quantities for the individual proof coins of 16,000 with the exception of the 1 shilling and 1/2 penny of 1,550 each. Were all the individual proofs minted strictly for collectors?
I can't imagine they'd circulate as proofs-why wouldn't they just up the mintage of the complete sets? And why wouldn't the 1s and 1/2d be more valuable in proof than they are as a result of the smaller mintages?

newsman

They also minted 12,000 of the 11-coin sets with the gold, so the total mintage for each proof coin should be 15,500. I think that figure of 1,550 is a typo.

spinaker2000

newsman is correct. It's a typo. I checked to be sure in "Hern's Handbook of South African Coins". He list all proof denominations (except gold) at 15500 for 1952.