Are the unopened 1955 or 1954 worth the money on ebay
Morgan13
Posts: 1,350 ✭✭✭✭✭
Has anyone purchased these?
They have my interested but I don't want to get scammed.
So far I have seen a 1955 and 1954 unopened sets and they typically sell from $320 to $350.
Opinions before I buy.
Some images if you have bought them before would be helpful.
If I did buy one I would like to know what my expectations should be.
Thank you
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
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I’ve watched these as well. Of interest is in 2 cases, different sellers, the images used in sales 6 weeks or more apart were the exact same. So return? Scam? Not sure, but raised enough questions to just keep watching these.
I think I’d rather get one from my LCS when they have one come in. I recognize this as an odds not in my favor gamble, but something about it has appeal none the less. Gotta be better than VaultBox if you wanna coin gamble🤣
You'll find out when you open them.
That's what I was thinking.
I guess another question to ask is, what could be inside to justify a $350 purchase?
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7
Expect average grade, non-CAM pieces with varying degrees of environmental damage.
Coin Photographer.
You need a very high grade or a cameo. But it's a lottery.
Over the years, I've bought a lot of sealed sets and sealed GSAs and I always resell them sealed. The odds are that bad IMO
Forget about gambling. Just buy slabbed coins if you really want them.
I bought some in person back in the day to open and see what I got. Nothing special (but they were much cheaper). Also, I’ve heard of them being steamed (or something) open and resealed and sold as unopened. May or may not have happened to the ones I bought. They were fine, just not great.
Is "Unopened" proof sets anything like "Unsearched" cent rolls with a barber dime on one end?
"When they can't find anything wrong with you, they create it!"
The coins could be anything from environmental damage to DCAM, Most likely average grade non cameo coins would be what to expect. Its anybody's guess. A high grade DCAM would be a super score, but its also highly unlikely.
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The big unknown is the decades of storage stress on the cellophane. IMO. Do you feel lucky, well do ya?
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If the coins look like this, then yes.
70 years in that same celophane (and did 54s and 55 box sets have the staple?) does not bode well for the unblemished survival of anything in the unopened box.
Buddy of mine bought two sealed sets from ebay while back for a show, didnt sell em, but when i bought him out after show, I opened the sets and 1 was pretty decent, the other total crap
I still have 10 flat pack 1955 proof sets as well as 20 1956 proof sets I bought many years ago when I was in College trying to be a vest pocket dealer. I have not looked at them since 1974.
About fifteen years ago was buying unopened proof sets from 1950-1963. Was building a silver proof collection. Would occasionally get a cameo 1952-1954 and deep cam - low grade in the 1961-1963. The early sets had to fight with the staple's rust and poor seals. The later years somehow managed to combine deep cameo with milk spots. Was also looking for varieties and DDR in some years. The financials of discovery and slabbing were similar to radioactive decay. Never quite covering the investment but not bad enough to call a halt.
Don't remember finding anything that ended up in my final registry set. Best results were sealed sets still in the postal delivery packages and from a few collectors who had hoarded the sets. So, seller reputation matters.
I had better luck with going to auctions and reviewing the offerings in hand. Looking for under-graded coins or missed errors/ varieties. Scored an unnoticed superbird on a Washington sitting in highest graded PF68UC* NGC slab. That was an uncommon occurrence. But the cost was just travel and helped build hobby skills by looking at tons of coins. Had fun doing both searching unopened and auction offerings and that was the main thing.
Link to 1950 - 1964 Proof Registry Set
1938 - 1964 Proof Jeffersons w/ Varieties
54 and 55 box sets did have the staple. 1954 was a mix of cellophane and poly pouches, 1955 was all poly pouches.
Collector, occasional seller
plenty of individual coins already certified that you can look at and choose from. Unopened sets reminds me of unsearched lots. JMO.
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Buying unopened proof sets (especially for a premium price) is like buying a lottery ticket.
Dream on. With sets, you are very lucky to get ONE Cameo Proof coin. Getting five is beyond possible.
About half of the 1954 sets were packaged in plastic which caused very unattractive toning on the coins. It can’t be dipped to fix. I have no interest in such sets and neither do most experienced collectors. All 1955 box sets were packed in the plastic.
That would be a pleasant surprise. After mulling it over and listening to all the traps involved I think I will avoid purchasing one of these unopened mint sets.
Thanks for all the feedback!
Student of numismatics and collector of Morgan dollars
Successful BST transactions with: Namvet Justindan Mattniss RWW olah_in_MA
Dantheman984 Toyz4geo SurfinxHI greencopper RWW bigjpst bretsan MWallace logger7
My post with photos of five Cameo proofs from 1955 was made in jest (if a set is unopened you would not know if the coins in the unopened set would look like the coins in the photos I posted, thus my statement "If the coins look like this, then yes." presents an impossibility [unless you have x-ray vision
).
For opened proof sets in OGP I have found and bought sets from 1956, 1962, 1963 and 1964 that contain five coins which all have a Cameo appearance (frosted devices and mirrored fields), though none of the coins in these sets would warrant a Cameo designation from our host. However, looking at these sets under good lighting is a treat as they are so much more eye appealing that run of the mill brilliant proof sets.
Buy them and let us see if you did good or eh!