US Mint and Proof Set Advice
bigmarty58
Posts: 2,002 ✭✭✭✭✭
My daughter and I are looking to put together a US mint and proof set collection. We would really appreciate your comments on keys and semi-keys and recommend dealer's. Thank You, Nikki and Robert.
Enthusiastic collector of British pre-decimal and Canadian decimal circulation coins.
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Comments
You would like something new (since you said you have a daughter), like the Silver proof or Those lovely State Quarters
Glen
or proof sets try to find choice sets. With mint sets this can be a
herculean task for some dates like the '65, '69, '71, '74, '80 and many
of the later issues. Each date, mint mark, and denomination has its
own characteristics. Problems can range from incidental things like
inferior '73-P quarters to real killers like carbon spots on '68 cents or
shallow scrapes on '80-D halfs. Some dates like the '81 can be tough
because several of the coins usually have unattractive surfaces.
As a rule of thumb if you look at about 50 of the earlier sets you'll be
able to put together a very choice mint set. It will usually take a Phil-
ly package from one set and a Denver from another. The dates list-
ed will probably take 75 or a 100. Later mint sets are more variable.
It might take as many as 150 or as few as 20.
A decent proof set can usually be cherried from only about ten sets
but truly remarkable sets will take about 50 usually.
The beauty of saving choice sets is not only that they are nice and a
pleasure to own. There's more than just the pride of ownership and
the sense of having something special; there is also a little better shot
at appreciation. These sets suffer a great deal of selective attrition.
Collectors seek them specifically to obtain the nice coins for their col-
lections so survival rates on these will be much poorer than on typical
sets. If there ever developes a significant premium for intact sets it's
a safe bet there will be a premium for nice coins as well. Choice sets
will benefit from much more premium than others. Be sure to add the
variety sets as well. These are tough enough that you probably won't
be able to seek choice ones but get the variety in nice condition.
Before 1981 there are a very high and very disproportionate number
of gem sets. There is much higher chance of finding a gem set than
mere odds would imply. Apparently they intentionally made a few bet-
ter sets. After this the odds are about the same as chance. Perhaps
this was caused by increased automation or possibly just a change in
practice.