In this one I’m looking at why 2026 has been a successful year for the US Mint so far, and I’m also checking live spot prices over at Money Metals because that backdrop matters for everything—silver Eagles, proof pricing, and what the secondary market decides to do next. I’m not here to give financial advice (I’m not a financial advisor), but I am here to track the numbers, the headlines, and the collector buzz so you can make sense of what the Mint is doing in real time. The big question I dig into is that returning $2.50 coin tied to America’s 250th anniversary: will the Mint actually include it in the proof sets, or will they keep it as its own “special” product to squeeze demand? I walk through the logic the Mint tends to use—packaging decisions, product segmentation, and how they’ve handled other hot issues—then I lay out what I’m watching for next. Bottom line: 2026 is shaping up to be a major year, and if you’re a set builder, you need to be ready for the Mint to make choices that aren’t always collector-friendly.