Natura mintages

[Timeless Value 10]

As collectors and investors we all know that mintage is key. I was paging through the Herns handbook and noted something interesting. The 2004 Natura Caracal natura series has 440 proof sets issued and 700 prestige sets issued. In 2005 the Natura Hippo series has 338 Proof sets issued and 686 Prestige sets issued. Does this mean that the proof sets in these years are more valuable than the prestige sets? ........Interesting........

[PBGold 10]

Not really in this instance. There are still a few hundred sets of each, so the gap is actually much smaller than it appears at first glance.

 

Another factor to take into consideration is that there is a much higher demand for the Prestige Sets. Although 700 were sold, the Mint could probably easily have sold another 700. In fact, big dealers like Investgold and SAGCE could probably sell 700 Prestige Sets themselves.

 

Mintages must be quite small to make a big difference; like the Rhino Prestige Set of 1995, that didn't even sell a 100 sets.

[jwither 11]

What exactly is the difference between the prestige set and the other?

 

In the United States, the US Mint also sold prestige sets in the 1990's but the only difference from the "regular" proof set was the packaging and that it included an example of the current year commemorative dollar which was common as dirt.

 

If this is true for these sets or substantially so, then I would disregard the distinction between these two sets and just add the mintages together. Paying more than a very modest premium for packaging is a waste of money.

 

And even if there is a distinction, for the individual coins, I would still evaluate the scarcity and price by combining the mintages.