The #1 Proof and Mint set killer is......

fivecents

The Number 1 proof and Mint set killer is Paul Sims of Paul Sims inc. I read an article in the Jan. 5 2003 issue of trends that Paul Sims was once billed by his trash hauler for 2,740 pounds of broken up proof and mint set debris. His company breaks up these sets for the Kennedy halves. They sell the halves as singles and also assemble and sell complete Kennedy half sets. One and a half tons of debris......that is alot of dead sets.

Tassa

You're trying to catch up with them, aren't you?

fivecents

<< <i>You're trying to catch up with them, aren't you? >>


It makes my eyes hurt just thinking about that.

darktone

How many sets would that be to get 2,740 pounds of garbage from mint sets? How much mint cellophane equals a pound? mike

cladking

There are several major proof and mint set dismantlers. While Paul Sims may well
be the largest, more of these sets have been destroyed one or two at a time by
individuals just keeping their sets current. Many were destroyed decades ago when
prices dropped to under face on many of the mint sets and approached double face
value on some of the proofs. It was common to find circulating proofs in the '80's
and even today is hardly rare.

coppercoins

2740 pounds of set blanks...considering the hard plastic of the last 20 years, that would be nearly 11,000 sets.

fivecents

How would you like the job of Paul Sim's Proof and Mint set Breaker upper. Sounds like that beer commercial about great american heros.

tradedollarnut

Paul Sims was once billed by his trash hauler for 2,740 pounds of broken up proof and mint set debris

Not so many when you figure in that he was throwing away the SBA's!!!!

cladking

For many of the coins in many of these sets the number 1 killer would have to be tarnish.

Try finding a red '68 cent or an '84 cent without carbon spots. The D mint 40% halfs are
starting to look a little bad too.

foodude

Not so many when you figure in that he was throwing away the SBA's!!!!

TDN, that's a good one

LAWMAN

I guess it is the privilege of the person who pays the money to buy them. Has anybody done the math or other analysis to figure out how that affects the records of proof and mint sets sold to figure out how many are still in existence after they get through breaking them up?

nankraut

cladking said: "For many of the coins in many of these sets the number 1 killer would have to be tarnish.

Try finding a red '68 cent or an '84 cent without carbon spots. The D mint 40% halfs are
starting to look a little bad too."

I wholeheartedly agree.

cladking

<< <i>I guess it is the privilege of the person who pays the money to buy them. Has anybody done the math or other analysis to figure out how that affects the records of proof and mint sets sold to figure out how many are still in existence after they get through breaking them up? >>



My methods are hardly rigorous, but I'd guess the destruction of some of
the older sets is approaching 80% not counting enviromental damage. Worse,
there is a growing tendency for the best sets to be destoyed more than the
average and poor sets.

Proof sets haven't suffered quite as badly but well over half of a few dates have
been destroyed.

It isn't only the older sets though which have been affected. While these sets
have had many years to be destroyed a few at a time, none of them were broken
enmass. A few like the '70 or '73 sets might get dismantled 1,000 or 2,000 at a
time, larger numbers being destroyed were rare. With the newer sets there are
some massive cuts; up to 5% of mintage will be destroyed at one time. There
was never sufficient demand to warrant massive destruction in the past when it
was still possible to assemble large numbers. The newer sets are often bought
in bulk and are easily obtained if you pay the price.

segoja

Guys,

There were millions of these sets produced. Ever looked thorugh 1000 sets at once????

Try it, it takes a long time.

Not likely these are going to dry up anytime soon.

Think about the early proof sets from the 30's-40's. You still see them and the mintage was around 3500-21000 depending on year!

cladking

<< <i>Guys,

There were millions of these sets produced. Ever looked thorugh 1000 sets at once????

Try it, it takes a long time.

Not likely these are going to dry up anytime soon.

Think about the early proof sets from the 30's-40's. You still see them and the mintage was around 3500-21000 depending on year! >>



Obviously this is very true. However, in the case of the early proof sets, we are talking about
specially made coins for collectors. These are great coins and make beautiful additions to col-
lections, but they do have limited demand due to their special nature. In the case of the later
mint sets the demand is limited only by the fact that so many have always disliked these coins.
There is hardly any certainty that this will change in a major way, but these sets tend to be vir-
tually the sole source of many of the later date coins. At least the dimes and quarters were not
saved in meaningful quantities in any way. Now after all these decades of being ignored vast
quantities are already destroyed even before people start looking at these coins. Moreover, the
wide spread in quality of the coins ensures that any future collectors will seek the finer examples.

Certainly with mintages of one to two million none of these sets will be rare in our lifetimes. But
when the surviving numbers are considered and the potential demand compared to the available
supply of the choicer sets then one has to consider these sets to be potentially important to fu-
ture collectors.

These same considerations all apply to the proof sets which have long enjoyed a little more de-
mand. While these sets may not necessarily increase a great deal in demand they are of a diff-
erent mint than the circulation issues and may be included in more collections than the earlier
proofs on this basis alone.

Again it should be remembered that mint and proof sets are not the be all and end all of modern
collections: There are numerous issues which don't appear in these sets and in a few cases the
best coins are actually found elsewhere.