1964 United States Mint Set

1964 Mint Set

1964 Mint Sets went on sale on May 1, 1964. Within a week, over one million sets were ordered. People formed long lines for a chance to purchase even a single set at over-the-counter sales centers in the Philadelphia and Denver Mints, the U.S. Assay Office at San Francisco (as it was called then), and the Treasury Department in Washington. Initially, each buyer could purchase five sets, but because everyone (including their family members and even the family dog) was buying so many sets, the limit was reduced to one set per person.

About the sets: The coins in the 1964 Mint Sets were Uncirculated pieces pulled from regular production runs, thus the quality of the individual coins varies wildly from set to set and even within a set.

Most 1964 SMS coins have a brilliant finish. Cameo surfaces are rare in Nickel and Half Dollar and very rare in Cent, Dime and Quarter. Deep Cameo surfaces are extremely rare (the Cent and Dime may not exist as Deep Cameo).

The 1964 Mint Set contained ten coins, including the following:

Mintage: 606,612 sets

1964 was the last year of the 90% Silver coins. Beginning in 1964, the Mints switched to a Copper-Nickel "Clad" coinage, and only the Half Dollar was to contain any Silver (and then, only 40%).

Original packaging: The coins in the 1964 Special Mint Sets were sealed in flat pliofilm packs, along with a blue and silver disk identifying this as a Special Mint Set. The pack was sealed in a white envelope.

America in 1964

The rock band "The Beatles" took America by storm. The Civil Rights Act became the law of the land. Muhammad Ali became the World Heavyweight champion boxer.

The World in 1964

North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked an American destroyer in the Gulf of Tonkin.