I will apologize for the long post in advance! I am planning on buying coin sets for my two young sons and my two yound nephews. My goal is to buy each one of the (4 in total) a coin set from the year they were born to the current year and then every year thereafter. So as an example my son was born in 2005 so I would buy 05,06,07,08,09,10 and do the same for the others. Yes I added it all up if I get the silver sets I need to dish out $1,100 to get caught up! So here is my questions: 1) Should I go with Mint Proof sets or Proof Silver sets? 2) In some other posts I see people referencing Proof sets vs. mint sets. What's the difference? Then some folks are saying mint proof sets. So overall is it worth the money for the silver sets? Which will either hold it's value or appreciate better? Thanks in advance!
If you are looking for coins that appreciate in value then i would suggest that you stay away from proof and mint sets since over 95% are not even worth the original perches price from the mint.
Proof Sets contain Proof coins that are specially made for collectors. Proof coins are struck twice (or more) under higher pressure than regular coins (which are called Business Strikes). The planchets (the blanks the coins are struck on) are polished and the dies (that strike the coins) are highly polished. The end result is a Proof coin that has highly reflective fields and frosty devices with very sharp details (thanks to multiple strikes under higher pressure). Mint Sets contain coins that are very similar to coins made for circulation (Business Strike coins) but (at least over the last decade or two) the coins are struck with more care than Business Strikes. Like Business Strike coins, coins in a Mint Set are struck once under normal pressure but, unlike Business Strikes, the struck coins are handled with some care. Unlike Proof coins, the planchets and dies are not highly polished (but may be polished more than those used for Business Strike coins). The end result is a coin that looks a lot like a typical Business Strike coin but (hopefully) with less defects (e.g., contact marks).
I have been doing the same for my daughter with the silver proof sets since 1999. I bought those sets because I like the coins, and appearance of them. I hope that they will keep their look over the years and give her a nice set of coins. Not worried about their value as she will get any other coins in my collection for any coins of real value. Mine idea is to get her interested in coins in general.
I do the same thing for my nephews and have for many years. The 'catch-up' part is pricey as you pointed out but it is a fun program to be on. It also helps to be sure everybody is treated the same. No favorites or I like yours better stuff. It also gives me satisfaction to bestow a gift that has actual value and is not a stewpit transitory fad which once passed retains absolutely none. One nephew needed a quick grand for unanticipated college expense and guess what? Easily gotten for a person with assets. Now he's repaying himself by re-acquiring what he then sold. Regular chip off the ever-lovin' avuncular uncle. I dunno about the lack of value opinion. There is truth to it in some cases, especially the clad sets. But they're junk after all aren't they? An early 60's set would command 10 or more times its inital cost. Maybe that's not quite equal to inflation but it did retain some value against the erosion of value by the Big 'I'. And it ain't over yet. The earlier ones vary but the early 50's issues are not being given away. Then of course there is the 1936.
So are you suggesting the Clad sets or silver sets? The clad sets I can get caught up for about $500 buying them from mintproducts.com The silver sets would run me about $1,100 all in Not sure which way to go here and who to buy from
You will get a much better deal buying the coins on Ebay then anywhere else and if you are still interested in buying sets, i would go with the silver sets for sure since you can get them pretty much at the silver spot price on Ebay.
I agree, If you own clad sets, you would do better cracking most of them open and spending them at face then keeping them long term...
It looks like Silver proof is the way to go! Just ordered the four sets from the mint for 2010 and then ordering the remainder from mintproducts.com Man is this exepnsive to get caught up, I learned a lesson here
Silver proofs tend to hold their value better over time. Pre WW2 US proofs are on fire. And so are early 50's.
Who says you have to get caught up in one year? As I see it you need six sets for each of them to be caught up. So you buy the 2010 and the 2005 set this year, the 2011 and 2006 sets next year and so on. By the time they are ten you are caught up without having to drop a bundle at any one time. It's not like they are going to NEED these sets before they're ten years old. There is a good chance they won't even have any interest in them before that age.
I would agree that proof sets are probably not the way to go for a long term investment. You can buy most of the 70, 80, and 90 proof sets for $5-$10 with a couple of exceptions. The 2000-2010 proof sets (clad and silver) can often be purchased for 50% of the original value with a couple of exceptions. I'm scooping them up at auctions though. I've had a couple of times where I've paid less than face value of the coins in the mint and proof sets at local auctions.
