A question about 1987

Pentimento

This is such a baby question, but I am pretty new so its OK.

Why were so many 1987 proof and uncirculated sets made and purchased? Proof mintage spiked by 30% extra, and uncirc set production almost tripled! My grandparents bought them, passed them on to me, but now I can't ask why they were so excited about coins at that time.

Did the 1986 commem stuff just get everyone in the buying mood??

cladking

Proof set mintage was up because the mint got their ordering system
straightened out and a little demand for the mint sets spilled over into
them.

Mint set production was up because it was known in advance that the
halfs would be available only here and in the souvenir sets, and because
demand had been artificially supressed the previous year by poor market-
ing.

There was also a little less demand in '86 because of extraneous factors
as well probably.

Pentimento

Thanks for the info on the ordering system. I never knew that. And Halves! Duh. I didn't know that people knew in advance that halves would only be in sets. Its still hard for me to understand why 3 million people would care so much about working on their Kennedy collection back then though.

cladking

<< <i>Thanks for the info on the ordering system. I never knew that. And Halves! Duh. I didn't know that people knew in advance that halves would only be in sets. Its still hard for me to understand why 3 million people would care so much about working on their Kennedy collection back then though. >>



Here is the thing about mint sets that is most difficult to understand; why the hell
did anyone ever order any of them.

There's ample evidence that until the mid-'90's there was almost no specific interest
in any of the coins in the sets. There was a tiny interest in intact sets but there were
probably only a thousand people who were really collecting them intact. Many of these
sets still come on the market in their original boxes and frequently they are unopened.
When mint set production was suspended in 1982 there was hardly a whimper from ev-
en the long time buyers. There was a very small number of people who screamed bloody
murder and it was this that got them restored in '84.

Up until the late-'70's there were very few reports of any varieties in these sets despite
the fact that there were several in them. There was no talk that the best coins were in
these sets despite the fact that a cursory glance at the situation would lead one to see
that these were the finest coins each year. There was frequent repetition of the mint of-
ficial release that these were ordinary coins of uncirculated quality.

It really was as though people simply bought these because they were available and nev-
er even considered that they contained any coins at all. People were relieved when the
mint resumed dating, proof sets, mint sets, and mintmarks in 1968 and some bought them
just because they were available, and they were the only products available for years. But
why did they continue to buy them?

But every year there were two million made. These were so common compared to demand
that they backed up in dealers' inventory and the wholesale price was less than face value
from about '80 to '95!!! Of course in those days it was common for new sets to increase in
price for two or three years after their initial release. This was probably the reason for the
high sales each year. People would buy them for speculation. Even those who just wanted
a single set for their collection would buy five and sell the extras. It was hardly surprising that
the secondary market would be flooded after a few years.

After the mid-'90's there was a lot more real demand for the sets and the coins in them. Mint-
ages finally dropped because sets weren't so sure to increase in the secondary market and there
were growing numbers of collectors and a growing awareness that these sets not only represen-
ted the finest coins made but also the entire supply in some cases. Kennedys were being made
for circulation late in the year so buying the sets was the only way to get these early. Mintages
dropped and attrition soared. And, of course, prices rose.

It's ironic that the sets no one really wanted were made in huge numbers and now that they are
wanted are getting tough to find. The later sets that were in demand aren't especially common
because mintages plummeted and attrition increased.

Now days the only mint sets that seem to really dwarf demand are the '79, '80, '81, and '87. The
'81 and '87 make the list because they contain mint set only issues.

When considering the mintage of the '87 halfs it should be remembered that in those days mint set
mintages and regular mintages were reported separately. There were 2.9 million mint sets but one
never sees the mintage for the souvenir sets. (these aren't in the annual reports of the era either)
There were likely another 100 or 150 thousand of these since they had very brisk sales until the mint
sets came out. There is no other souvenir set with a mintage over about 25,000.