2008 State Quarter Proof Sets on Sale

The 2008 Statehood Quarter Proof Set was put on sale by the U.S. Mint beginning on January 24. The 5-coin clad Proof set is your first chance to get your hands on this year's crop of Statehood Quarters, which was supposed to have been in its tenth and final year in 2008. (Late last year congress passed a law mandating the issuance of Quarter Dollar coins for the five U.S. Territories and Washington, D.C. Although the Territories and D.C. program isn't specifically legislated as an extension of the Statehood Quarter Program, it is very closely modeled on it, and for all intents and purposes constitutes an eleventh year of "State Quarters.")

The five quarters included in the 2008 Statehood Quarters Proof Set are the Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska, and Hawaii coins. The Proof Sets can be purchased on the U.S. Mint Web site for $13.95 per set plus shipping. The 2008 Presidential Dollar Proof Set has also gone on sale already, so if you're eager to see these 2008 designs in hand before most Americans even though they're on the way, this is your best chance.

Many people are surprised to learn that the U.S. Mint sells the Presidential Dollar and Statehood Quarter Proof Sets for under $15 per set, because certain retail coin dealers mark them up a ridiculous amount! Just last night, I saw a cable TV coin dealer hawking damaged 2007 Statehood Quarters Proof Sets for $69.96 per set (plus $11.04 shipping and handling.) I say "damaged" because the coins have been electroplated in 24k gold, which makes them numismatically worthless! And the amount of gold plating is so thin that it probably adds about 30 cents or so "gold value" to each coin, while at the same time making the coins worthless as an investment. Collector A.C. Dwyer has written an excellent analysis of the value of the gold and silver in plated coins.

Another big loser are the colorized coins. Unless the coins are colorized by a national government mint (which the U.S. Mint does not, and has never done,) the coins are considered to be damaged and essentially worthless to numismatists. The same goes for holographic coins; the U.S. Mint has never issued them, and the holograph process damages the coin. So, when you buy these kinds of coins, not only are you paying many times what the U.S. Mint charges, but the coins you are getting are not anywhere near "investment quality" because they're damaged!

Even the more honest coin dealers have to mark up the Proof Sets to make a profit. I regularly see ads in major coin-related publications and on coin dealer Web sites where the same Proof and Mint Sets that you can buy right now on the U.S. Mint Web site are being sold for $8 to $60 over issue price. It's always a good idea to check the U.S. Mint Web site before buying recently-issued coins from dealers, because sometimes the coins remain on sale a lot longer than you'd expect. For example, well into 2008 the U.S. Mint still has several of the 2007 coin sets for sale, (and some of the 2007 sets will be there until November 2008, if past history is any indication.) You can even still buy Mint-sealed bags and rolls of Kennedy Half Dollars dated 2001!

The lesson? It never hurts to check the U.S. Mint Web site's inventory before buying coins and sets from recent issues.

Do you prefer to buy your Proof and Mint Sets directly from the U.S. Mint, or from coin dealers? Why? Share your thoughts via the "comments" link below.

Photo credit: United States Mint image.