Every year for my birthday, I get a US Mint set of the coins of the year. A couple of years, I’ve also received a proof silver dollar as a gift. I appreciate them for their beauty and uniqueness.
Recently, I received a mailing from a coin dealer, and was looking thru it at some of the asking prices for items I’ve gotten over the years. It was interesting to say the least. But it raised this question for me - Where can I look up the original “selling” price for some of these coins? They were all offered by the US Mint, so I suspect the price at the time of issuance should be known.
For example, one of the coins I have is the 2001-P Buffalo Proof, a U.S. Commemorative Proof Silver Dollar. It is of a similar size, weight, and purity of other commemerative proof silver dollars issued by the mint, yet it’s selling price only a few years after it’s issuance is much higher than other coins released in surrounding years. Was it’s original selling price higher? Or was there some other factor that has caused this coin to go up in pricing more than it’s “neighbors”, such as scarcity or popularity?
BTW, a link to an example dealer selling this coin is : http://www.goldeneaglecoin.com/catalog_i1481451.html?catId=65691
Thanks in advance…
The issue is indeed popularity. I bought one myself the day it was offered to the public, and within a few days after that, the US Mint site listed it as being out of stock.
As to why it’s so popular … that’s a good question. I just looks cool, I guess. That’s why I bought mine. 
To find out the original issue price of proof sets and uncirculated sets issued by the US Mint, buy yourself a copy of “A Guide Book Of United States Coins,” called by us in the trade the “Red Book.”
I don’t think they list the original issue price on the commem. dollars such as the Buffalo you have. Most of the commem. dollars that the Mint issues the last 20 years or so have an original price of $25-35 dollars. I think the Buffalo was at the high end, and the reason it sold out so soon was the design–people collect Indian related things, it was a repeat of the classic Buffalo/Indian nickel of the 1913-1938 that we had for a coin, and the real kicker was that the Smithsonian advertised in their magazine that the coin was being made. Unfortunately, most of the readers who might have wanted one were too late as the issue had sold out. This increased demand from people who were not the usual customers of the US Mint caused a demand that was rather great for the coin. So, the aftermarket price jumped into the $100-150 level. We sell them today for about $140.
Is it a good buy at that level? Only time will tell. My 35 years in the coin business tells me that if you buy a coin as an investment, you’d better like it. You just might own it for a long time. Coins as an investment are very volatile and not made for that purpose.