The latest collector offering from the United States Mint is the 14-coin 2010 Silver Proof Set. It launched Thursday, August 26, into a market place that also includes the 2010 America the Beautiful Quarters™ Silver Proof Set. The price of each set is $56.95 and $32.95 respectively.

What makes the U.S. Mint 2010 Silver Proof Set different than the quarters-only silver set is the additional proof coins, including the silver versions of the 2010 Kennedy Half Dollar and the 2010 Roosevelt Dime. The only way to acquire these two coins in silver is from the set.

The other 12 coins in the 2010 Silver Proof Set are the five silver America the Beautiful Quarters — the exact same as those that are in the quarters silver set, the 2010 Lincoln Cent, the 2010 Jefferson Nickel, four 2010 Presidential Dollars, and the 2010 Native American Dollar.

The quarters are the first five coins in the new America the Beautiful Quarters™ Program. They feature reverse designs emblematic of Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas, Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming, Yosemite National Park in California, Grand Canyon National Park in Arizona, and Mount Hood National Forest in Oregon.

The dollar coins feature the 13th through 16th Presidents: Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan and Abraham Lincoln. The theme for the 2010 Native American dollar is "Government – The Great Tree of Peace," and shows a group of arrows bound together within a Hiawatha Belt.

The Lincoln Cent also has a new design for 2010. The reverse depicts the Union Shield, which is said to signify President Lincoln’s pursuit for the preservation of the United States as a single and united country.

All the coins are struck at San Francisco’s mint facility, so each of them bear the "S" mint mark — similar to other annual proof sets from the Mint, like the aforementioned silver quarters set, as well as the standard 14-coin clad 2010 Proof Set. In fact, the latter is exactly like the just released 2010 Silver Proof Set with the exception that its coins have a non silver composition. Therefore, if the coins were removed from each of the product packages, the only way to tell the difference between the clad and silver version quarters, dimes, and half dollars would be the heavier weight of the 90 percent silver coins.

Each of the five silver quarters have 0.904 ounces of silver in them, and they weigh 6.25 grams versus 5.67 grams for the clad versions. The half dollar and dime include 0.362 ounces and 0.072 ounces of silver in them, and they weigh 12.5 grams and 2.5 grams. Clad half dollars and dimes weigh less, at 11.34 grams and 2.27 grams. In total, the 2010 Silver Proof Set includes 1.338 ounces of silver. When calculating the set’s intrinsic silver value, it comes to $25.42 when the silver spot price is at $19 an ounce.

Last year’s set, the U.S. Mint 2009 Silver Proof Set, was priced at $52.95, compared to $56.95 for this year… but then last year’s cost of silver at launch time was also much less, about $13 an ounce.

The Mint’s standard shipping and handling charge of $4.95 will be added to each domestic order. Those interested in the 2010 Silver Proof Set can buy them via the Mint’s web site at www.usmint.gov or by calling their toll-free number of 1-800-USA-MINT.

The next round of silvers coins from the Mint will feature National Park Silver Bullion Coins, which are the larger 3-inch diameter, five-ounce versions of this year’s national park and national forest quarters. The Mint is expected to begin producing them this fall.