'60's unopened proof sets.

MajorDuty

Hello. Obvious first post here. *waves at the people*

Regarding those unopened silver proof sets from the sixties that often sell on eBay: I was wondering if it's common at all, or maybe not so common but done, for people to get their own envelopes and stamps, and put together regular '60's proof sets and seal them and then sell them as "unopened proof sets"? Has anyone heard or know of this being done?

There sure seems to be plenty available out there, and I've seen many even from the same year have slightly different shades of envelopes, or envelopes that simply appear to be really, really pristine.

~Maj

Purple73

to the forums!

"repacks" most of them ...but not all

klorineforbrains

Very common, and:

MadMarty

Welcome and beware. A good seller of sealed proof sets is Val Webb. But he buys in bulk and you never know who had them before him..

19Lyds

Easy enough to check but you gotta buy it first. Look at the plastic encasing the coins. If there are slide marks on the plastic, its a good bet that someone has checked the set out then resealed it. Its a risky transaction so be careful!

mgoodm3

Welcome.

Sequitur

I was wondering if it's common at all, or maybe not so common but done, for people to get their own envelopes and stamps, and put together regular '60's proof sets and seal them and then sell them as "unopened proof sets"?

I would say it is common -- you'll see the same sellers hawking the same "UNOPENED PROOF SET L@@K" nonsense day after day, week after week. I would study the Ebay market for weeks, if not months, before buying any of these so-called "unopened" sets.

Russ

If one believes the proof set section on eBay it looks like everybody who ever bought from the mint didn't really care about coins, but were content with staring at envelopes. BTW, the ratio of "unopened" sets to open sets has changed dramatically over the last couple years. Used to be that opened outnumbered "unopened" by about 2 to 1. That has literally reversed.

Russ, NCNE

tlhoy

To the forums.

DorkGirl

nwcs

Welcome. The only "unopened" sets I trust are still in the original mailing container.

Mikey

There was an ebay seller a couple years ago, samrus2 who sold 1960-1963 sealed sets by the ton for around $50. I bought a few of them and would like to open some. I'll post a few pictures of what they look like when opened.

kryptonitecomics

I bought several so called sealed Mint and Proof sets over the past few days, which I plan to open. I will also post hear and let folks know what I find. I am not expecting much, but if a couple turn out to be nice sets with above average coins.....then I can cover the cost of all sets.

As others have said...there are no guarantees on Ebay, and things are not always what they appear to be.

MajorDuty

OK. Thank you for the many nice replies.

I bought one '64 "unopened" proof set several months ago and opened it, and was very pleased with the coins inside the sealed plastic. The nickel has some toning to it; the other coins look mint fresh like the day they were done. I ended up buying another '64 set, and a '63 set and have left those sealed just for the heck of it. Then I started getting curious/suspicious.

Btw, as I'm sure many of you probably already know, regular bank wrapped rolls of WI quarters are now sometimes selling on eBay for $80! Unbelievable. Just.....unbelievable.

Deadhorse

It's a fair bet that nearly all of the unopened sets have been opened and resealed. There was a seller awhile back selling "new" envelopes for 50s and 60s sets. They where inked to look exactly like the originals and he had whatever years you wanted to buy.

Having said that, there is still the thrill of the hunt. Be very careful about the seller. Awhile back I bought five 64 unopened sets from a seller with thousands of feedbacks and she always sold crafts, yarn, dolls, etc. Anyway, I bought them for $55.

I have to think these really were unopened and who knows how she came across them. It was far and away my best hit on "unopened" sets. The sets yielded 2 AH Kennedys(my first ever raw AH find and two of them to boot!), 3 cam quarters and 2 cam dimes plus a borderline cam Lincoln. So it is possible to truly find unopened sets and to find a few real winners in those sets. It is, however, usually one of those slim an none situations. I don't want to tell you how many I have bought that yielded nothing but lower end proof coins.

Like I said, the thrill of the hunt.

zzzz

I bought one a few years ago ... I think it was a 50 something "unopened" mint set. I believe. I get it and about a year later I really look at it. It had a 1972 dime in the sealed cello mint holder ... LOL ... All the rest were the right date ...

How'd the mint make this error ????

nankraut

Very common, and:

nankraut

The mint didn't do it, of course. I would never pay a premium for a "never opened" set. 90%+ have probably been opened and resealed, or put into new envelopes.

RayinNoCal

Hi, I'm new to this forum, and fairly new(3 years) to collecting.I inhereted my grandfathers collection, which has many proof sets starting from 1960.I have about 8 ,1964 sets, and 4 or 5 of them are unopened.I'd sell some of them if it was worth it, as I tend to collect Barbers, seated and Bust coins-Ray

MajorDuty

Sell 'em to me, then. :-]