A Gorgeous Original 1940 Proof Set

FlyingAl

I recently made my largest numismatic purchase (cost wise) over the weekend - this 1940 proof set. The images on Ebay looked quite promising, and the price even more so. I needed the half and nickel to go 65 and everything else 64 to break even. I liked my chances, so I took the shot. The set arrived today and it exceeded my expectations! I believe it may be an original set moved to a Capital Plastics Holder (more on this later).

I will take this opportunity to give some background on these proofs. Since I expect there may be a few who don't want to read that, I'll put it at the bottom of this post and you can skip it if you want to. Here are the coins:

Half - I grade it 67, though it is a liner coin. I could see it in a 66 holder, although it is a bit better than my 1942 in PCGS PR66. It has some light hairlines in the obverse fields, and above E PLURIBUS UNUM. It has some amazing original blue and steel gray tone from the cellophane, which I am a huge fan of. Detail is slightly below average for the year.

Quarter - I grade it 67+. This is a beast of a coin, and I think that it is slightly better than my 1941 in 67. There is a light hairline just below the Y in LIBERTY, which is the only flaw I could find. It has an even, truly original gray haze that matches the half exactly. Detail is slightly above average for the year, as is eye appeal.

Dime: I grade it 67. The tone here matches the quarter, though it is a little more prominent and spotty. There is one hairline between the L and I in LIBERTY, running diagonally from the nose to the L. This is the only flaw I could find. Detail is average for the year. Another great coin.

Nickel - I grade it 66 (Rev of 40). A pretty solid 66, with some marks and light hairlines on the obverse. The reverse is exceptionally attractive, with very few very small light hairlines. The reverse has a great pearly sheen luster, with some blues creeping in around the rims. Tone on the obverse matches the other coins. Detail is average, recut ribbon. There are a few nice die cracks in Jefferson's hair, one shows up in the obverse photo.

Cent - I grade it 64RB (though it's not red or brown ). This is the nicest toned Lincoln cent that I've ever seen in person. It knocked my socks off. Deep red and greens blend with some oranges on the obverse to from an even, brightly colored mirror surface. The reverse has electric pinks, blues, and greens melding perfectly to form a beautiful electric colored sheen unlike anything I've ever seen before. Taking pictures of this coin was daunting, but I gave it my best effort. I underexposed the shots to try and get the color to show, but it does give you an idea of what the coin looks like under light. How @robec does this is beyond me.

This unedited shot of the nickel caught part of the cent in the upper right, and I liked how it showed just how much these proofs can change based on lighting. Most of these colors don't show in the direct cent image.

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Now on to the history! I will use Roger Burdette's book United States Proof Coins 1936-1942 for mintages and original values/die numbers. This book comes highly recommended, and it is my favorite numismatic book.

In 1940, there were between 11,000 and 15,000 proofs reported minted (roughly) and about twenty five percent more (per denomination) were struck but destroyed due to assay or quality issues. About 11,000 proof sets could have been made, though since proofs were sold individually there is no way to know for sure. To get a "set" from the mint in 1940, one simply ordered one coin of each denomination. There was no option for a "set", so as such the words "original set" for this era simply mean an order of one coin of each denomination kept together since the day they left the mint.

Each coin costed the following:
Half - 75 cents
Quarter - 50 cents
Dime - 20 cents
Nickel - 20 cents
Cent - 16 cents

This brought the cost of a full "set" to $1.81, with 8 cents for postage. Face value was 91 cents. One could order as many coins of each denomination as they pleased, so an order of 40 proof half dollars could be made. $456.90 of face value proofs were unsold in 1940, which is the first year that a large quantity of unsold proofs remained. This is roughly equivalent to 502 sets, though there is no way to know exactly what denomination and what quantities remained unsold. The Medal Department could usually produce orders to demand (and tried to), so large quantities of leftover proofs were uncommon.

Each proof was struck once with a medal press on highly polished dies and planchets, and then inspected individually for quality. The dies and planchets used were only different from circulation dies and planchets due to the polishing. This created the mirror like fields currently shown on these proofs. Overpolishing of dies often led to detail loss, which can be seen on each coin above. This gives the appearance of a weak strike, when in reality the poor polishing job left little detail to spare. Many dies over the era were condemned as a result of overpolishing, some before they struck a single coin. Finished proofs were then placed on stray and sent to a worker to be inspected. Once inspected, finished proofs were packaged in cellophane envelopes and sent to the buyer in whatever mailing materials the Medal Department had on hand.

In 1940, the nickel had an interesting variety where a leftover reverse die from 1939 was used to strike 1940 nickels. However, since the reverse design was revised in late 1939, the die was the same as one from 1938. As such, the 1940 Reverse of 1938 nickel was produced. It is suspected that this die produced 900 coins, and this accounts for the entire mintage of the variety. It remains rather scarce today.

That's all I think I'll history wise add to this set, though I remain undecided about what to do with it. I had originally planned to send it to Great Collections for grading and sale (they get discounted rates and I had intended to try and get some profit out of it), but now I am considering keeping the set. I remain undecided at the moment. Decisions, decisions!

ChangeInHistory

Let us know if you send it in yourself or to GC. Good luck either way.

robec

If I remember correctly $1.81 was the cost of the proof sets in the 60’s.

Great report! I love your passion…….it reminds me of the feeling I had when I caught the Lincoln cent bug. So much cool stuff still in circulation.

P0CKETCHANGE

Wow! That is a fantastic set.

DollarAfterDollar

Very pretty original set.

Eldorado9

Great write-up and even better photos buddy. These coins not only look totally original, but the consistency of the toning seems to indicate they were all stored together in the same packaging. You very well may have an original set here. Very, very nice coins, and I am sure you will do well with them! Although, if they were mine, I might be tempted to hang onto the entire set for a while and admire them. Congrats!

jesbroken

After 60 years of this hobby, I must say that is the nicest 40's proof set I have ever seen. The toning is absolutely fantastic. Congratulations, I can't imagine whatever you paid to have been too much.
Jim

coinbuf

Pretty set, congrats on the purchase.

kaz

GReat looking set, I love the half and the cent! I'd hang onto it .

NeophyteNumismatist

beautiful coins.

JWP

I will send you $1.61 for the proof set and I'll pay the shipping too!

SanctionII

Great set.

As far as keeping it or selling it goes, I think you should think very carefully about keeping the set long term.

If 1936-1942 proofs are a core collecting intetest for you; and if the 1940 has matched, unmessed with, original, high grades coins this set can become a center piece of your collection.

If you sell this set you may break even and maybe even turn a profit. The money you receive from a sale will quickly be used for other things, while the proof set will no longer be yours (parting with same may result in immediate regret and seller's remorse).

If you keep the set, it becomes a part of your asset base. It may go up or down in value in the future, but it will be yours, with zero holding costs (unlike other asset classes).

Since you are a YN, a long term hold of decades is possible (i.e. 50+ years). During that time you will make and spend lots of money. Thus not having the proceeds of an immediate sale of this 1940 proof set should not be a problem for you.

The above assumes you are one who trends towards being a collector (intent on collecting and owning great coins) and not one who trends towards being a dealer (whose livelihood is buying low and selling high).

My own 1940 proof set is one I purchased years ago ftom a local coin shop. I had it graded this year and received high grades on same, similar to the grades you assign to the coins in your 1940 proof set.

Goid luck with whatever you decide.

BLUEJAYWAY

Excellent purchase. Do keep it together.

Barberian

I like that you provided grade estimates here, enabling later comparison with the actual grades they'll receive. It's forthright and better enables a better opportunity to learn, IMO, when the grades arrive.

Best of luck with the grades!

johnny9434

That's a nice set, I like 👍

ricko

@FlyingAl ... Very nice coins and an excellent and interesting post. I recommend keeping the coins. What profit may be made, will soon be spent - and like the coins, gone. Cheers, RickO

Connecticoin

Is that a scratch on Jefferson's head? Otherwise looks like a very nice set.

P0CKETCHANGE

@Connecticoin said:
Is that a scratch on Jefferson's head? Otherwise looks like a very nice set.

It looks like a thin die crack to me, but I can’t be 100% sure.

Maywood

The trouble with a purchase like this is that it sets up a difficult choice, to keep or to sell. It seems you bought the set with the intention of selling for a profit and fell in love with it once it arrived. You should probably stick to your guns and recover your investment unless you can afford to keep it, which may not be easy. I can remember when I financed purchases by doing what you've done and the same thing happened. I would be presented with a tough choice that ran counter to my well thought out "plan" of building my collection. In the end I learned to detach from the emotion and sell.

My evolution as a collector is probably similar to what most go through when starting at a young age and the problem is always money!! There was a time when spending $100 at a coin show was just absurd. After some time had passed and circumstances had changed I found myself spending $1,000 at a show or on a single coin. Eventually I got to where I am today, I spend whatever it takes to get what I want with the understanding that I need to be careful and can't really afford to make a mistake. I go slowly, try to stick to plan and avoid buying on a whim because I like the way something looks.

Everything was made possible because I became able to detach any emotion from myself and a coin, I learned how to sell to be able to buy.

bagofnickels

That is a beautiful matched set. Love the originality of it. That cent is incredible. I would love to see a true view of it. Thanks for sharing.

ChrisH821

@P0CKETCHANGE said:

@Connecticoin said:
Is that a scratch on Jefferson's head? Otherwise looks like a very nice set.

It looks like a thin die crack to me, but I can’t be 100% sure.

I think it looks like a fiber strike through.
A very nice set indeed!

FlyingAl

The line on the Jefferson nickel is a die crack. It’s much less prominent in hand, and you do need to look for it a little bit. My lights caught it perfectly for the image.

I’m really enjoying the commentary about selling. Good arguments both ways!

psuman08

@robec said:
If I remember correctly $1.81 was the cost of the proof sets in the 60’s.

Proof sets in the 60s were $2.10.

Fantastic 1940 set. I would hold on to it.

ChrisH821

I had to go back and look, I had that set on my watchlist too
I think you did very well on it.

WAYNEAS

Gorgeous set @FlyingAl.
I definitely would have it graded and maybe give the new CAC service a crack at it.
Wayne

Dave99B

What an incredible proof set. Well done!

Dave

FrankH

Think twice about slabbing. Especially a multi-holder.
I too have a 1940 proof set. I had it multi holdered and quite frankly, I enjoyed it a LOT more in the handy Capital holder.
In fact, I still wrestle with cracking the multi and returning it to a Capital holder.

Half came out a bit glary....so....

joeykoins

WoW!
Such magnificence.
You done good for yourself, Congratulations. A real crowd pleaser.

DDR

Nice set, nice write-up.

leothelyon

Here's an interesting note. Ebay shows there are 2 PR68's for sale. One says it's a pop 2/0 coin, the other says it's a pop 3/0 coin. Looked it up, says it's a pop 4/0 coin. lol
But the coins look like there may have some haze in the fields, something I've noted on the few I've seen and how proned the date was to copper carbonate flecks/spots. My PR64 example has them. But with such a low mintage,one can't get too choosey with what's out there.
If you can share your sources as to the estimate 900 mintage. Read somewhere, the 1939 with the reverse of 1940 has a mintage of 1000.

Leo

FlyingAl

@leothelyon

According to mint die tables from Roger's book, reverse die 41 was left over from 1939 and is the logical source of the reverse of '38 coins. The die produced 900 good coins. No other die was seemingly left over from 1939.