Coins - Young Collectors Edition Coin Sets

To engage more young people in the fun, art and education of collecting coins, the United States Mint developed Young Collectors Edition Coin Sets for a variety of commemorative coins. The first of the coin sets was introduced in 1993 for the Bill of Rights silver uncirculated half dollar.

Though not provided each year, the US Mint produced several Young Collectors Edition coin sets.

Note: Cond = Condition, "Unc" = Uncirculated, "Prf" = Proof
        Under Mint, "W" = West Point, NY, "D" = Denver, CO,
        "P" = Philadelphia, PA, "S" = San Francisco, CA

The population varies for each of the commemorative coins above. However, the population for just the Young Collectors Coin Sets is not readily available.

This chart provides the population for the specific commemorative coin that was also included in Young Collectors Coin Sets. For example, the Bill of Rights population is for the uncirculated silver half dollar coin, whereas the Smithsonian Institution population is for the proof silver dollar.

The Bald Eagle half dollar mintages were 500,000 but that included both proof and uncirculated conditions. Thus, the chart remains blank for the uncirculated Bald Eagle half dollar.

Plus, on the commemorative coin market, some dealers deconstruct the Young Collectors Coin Sets and sell only the commemorative coins.

Generally, the Mint places a cap on how many of the special collectible sets they will make. For example, this excerpt from their February 1998 press release states, "Of special interest is the Black Patriot's Young Collector's Edition, the latest in the Mint's popular series. Limited to only 20,000 sets, it includes the Uncirculated Silver Dollar in an entertaining, informative package."

But, considering the whole population for the Black Patriots uncirculated silver dollar is just over 37,000, the number of Young Collector Edition Coin Sets could be over half if the Mint did make the noted 20,000.

The market rates of the commemorative coins found in the Young Collector Edition Coin Sets show the supply and demand challenges. The following chart provides the early 2012 market values:

For those commemorative coins with the smaller populations, the market values reflect the difficulty in finding the coins. 

As you review each of the coin sets, look for the common characters in the Mint's special packaging.  

For fun, we're naming the boy Jeremiah, the girl Christina and the dog Charlie in the US Mint's Young Collectors Edition Coin Sets.