Here Comes the Franklin Mint Again! Check Today' s Ebay - Barbados and Trinidad Running Wild STILL!

7Jaguars

For all you Caribbean and Franklin Mint fans, the ship of unappreciated rarities and scarcities seems to be sailing....
Today on ebay, three sets sold that were of interest.
None were in original box and NONE had the all-important COAs.
I was not buyer or seller on these, only a bystander collector.

Results:

1984 Barbados Proof set, 8 coin: $740
1983 Trinidad Silver Proof set, 8 coin: $820

In the also-ran division was the 1984 Jamaica set which was in like condition at 400 USD.

These are not DL Hansen figures, but boy are they on the rise. IMO the Jamaica set was the best deal of the bunch.
I suspect that Franklin Mint production figures may have to be questioned on the later material (post 1981) as the Barbados set is much scarcer than quoted mintage figures in Krause and very likely this is true of the Trinidad set as well. The Jamaica set is likely close to the quoted 268 mintage.

I will soon post a very scarce late FM item that I found....

291fifth

20 or so years ago you could hardly give those away. Dealers would have boxes full of non-US proof and mint sets that could be had cheaply if you were willing to take the time to look through them. I wonder how many of those boxes are still out there waiting to be cherry-picked?

7Jaguars

Yea good point although nearly all are the 1970s up through about 1981. Suddenly the supply drops off 1981 and later as the FM went through so many contractures and ownership changes.
Even with "full court" press I have not found a few of the sets - they are crazy rare, and have pretty much learned which they are..

FilamCoins

bidask

Who was the eBay seller ?

I might offer to consign .

bidask

@FilamCoins said:

Nice coin

7Jaguars

Arlington coins.
There were multiple bidders (not me) so not shilled.

cladking

@291fifth said:
20 or so years ago you could hardly give those away. Dealers would have boxes full of non-US proof and mint sets that could be had cheaply if you were willing to take the time to look through them. I wonder how many of those boxes are still out there waiting to be cherry-picked?

You're right of course but it should be pointed out that a good rule of thumb was that there were about 10 proof sets to every mint set. And most of the mint sets were Canada and Mexico. Mint sets were made in far smaller numbers and far fewer issues. Mint sets were on the bottom of the box and falling apart because of poor packaging. Many of these still in the packaging are tarnished or covered with PVC now.