For the second time this year, the United States Mint has announced a price increase for some Numismatic products scheduled for 2020. The increases follow the first ones announced back in January. While Numismatic product production has ceased because of the COVID-19 (Coronavirus) pandemic, eventually the Mint will get these products back online and make them available to collectors.
The increases range from $1.05 for the 2020 Quarter Circulating Coin Set up to $23.30 for the 2020 America the Beautiful Five Ounce Silver Uncirculated Coin. The team over at Coin News have put together a complete list (so far) of the price increases you can expect to see later this year.
Today’s release of the 2020 Silver Proof Set, the last Numismatic items to be released in the foreseeable future, increased by $8.30.
Ultimately the price increase shouldn’t be a big shock for collectors. Factors like inflation, spot prices on silver, and increases in operational costs all impact pricing of Mint products. Further, these price increases on the whole are minimal and likely will not detour collectors from adding the products to their collections.
Equally, one cannot dismiss the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the Mint. It has had significant impact to operations while still having significant costs. The West Point facility is closed currently while the San Francisco, Denver, and Philadelphia Mint locations are all closed to the public as they continue to produce circulation coinage.
As of this morning, 676,676 cases of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) had been reported in the United States with 34,784 fatalities with much of the United States in a Shelter in Place or lock-down order in efforts to cut the infection rate.