The United States Mint will begin taking orders for the 2013 Birth Set at Noon (ET), tomorrow, January 15, 2013. The set is priced at $19.95 plus the US Mint's standard shipping and handling charge of $4.95 per order.
Each of the five coins of the set are struck to proof quality at the US Mint's facility in San Francisco. As such, each bears an 'S' mintmark indicating its place of production.
The five coins of the set include:
- 2013 'S' Kennedy Half Dollar
- 2013 'S' White Mountain Quarter
- 2013 'S' Roosevelt Dime
- 2013 'S' Jefferson Nickel
- 2013 'S' Lincoln Cent
As previously mentioned, each of the five coins are struck to proof quality. They are featured in the same clad composition used for standard circulating coins.
The United States Mint describes its proof quality coins with:
"United States Mint proof coins feature sharp relief and a mirror-like background. Their frosted, sculpted foregrounds give them a special cameo effect. Proof blanks are specially treated, polished and cleaned to ensure high quality strikes. The blanks are then fed into presses fitted with specially polished dies and struck at least twice to ensure sharp relief."
This release marks the second year of a Birth Set to be issued by the US Mint. The first appeared last year with the series meant to offer a numismatic gift option for newborn babies.
As such, the coins of the set are presented in an an illustrated folder that includes spaces for a personalized welcome message as well as the baby's statistics (date and time of birth, length and weight), a three- by four-inch photograph, and a lock of hair.
The folder has been slightly modified from last year's release based on Mint customer input. Accordingly, the certificate of authenticity now appears on the back of the folder with the coin specifications offered on the sleeve of the product.
Orders for the 2013 Birth Set may be placed (when released) via the Mint's online store located at http://www.usmint.gov/catalog. Orders will also be accepted by calling 1-800-USA-MINT (872-6468). Hearing- and speech-impaired customers with TTY equipment may order by calling 1-888-321-MINT (6468).
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