Simple advice, please..

What should I do (if anything) to these coins?
No photo, as that might not help --
Just found them in a little trinket box, tucked away for 'later' I guess.. As I said before, I continue to find things..
5 coins: each in it's own tiny plastic bag (say 1 1/2 x 2 1/2), stacked one atop the other for a total of 5 in the stack; penny, nickel, dime, quarter, fifty-cent piece; all five then stapled with one staple to make the stack. All are dated 1940.

Would you/should I take them out of these little plastic bags and do something with them? None of the bags are sealed, they are just stapled as I explained.

You'll obviously ask me the condition of the coins. 'Dunno.. none look like mirrors to me, so not proofs, right? But they all look "lovely" to me. The nickel seems to be slightly bluish around the rim, in certain lights. I could describe each, but really it doesn't matter. Reading this board long enough now to know there is something I SHOULD do with/to these coins.

Thank you in advance.
Lucy

 

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Lucy, I suggest you get the coins out of the plastic bags as certain types plastics may have potentially damaging PVC in them which can harm coins over time. Only handled the coins by their edges, especially if they are proof coins and not circulated or low grade coins taken from pocket change. Even then, only handle with care, by the edges.

I then recommend you try to find a Capital Plastics mint/proof set holder, such as the one pictured below, for a nicer presentation. Once in a nice protective holder, keep the coins around for a while and see if you don't like them better like this. If you don't want them, selling them in the Capital holder. It will look nicer than those little baggies they are currently been held in and may garner a better return from a buyer or dealer interested in buying them from you.

I'd love to see pics or know if any coins are toned colorfully.

That's My2¢

 

For right now DO NOT take the coins out of the bags. I wish you had pictures because what you are describing sounds a whole lot like a 1940 proof set in the original packaging. If so you are talking four figures.

(It may not be the original packaging though. The original "plastic bags" were a cellophane type material. These has a endency to dry out and crack allowing the coins to fall out. Some collectors would replace the cellophane with soft polyethylene bags.)

 

Oooh! Even better advice. Thanks Conder.

See Lucy... pictures are worth thousands of dollars (potentially)...

I thought you had a cell phone with camera that you used to post something a while back? Can you try that again? Even a visual hint of the packaging from a poor photo might help settle what this is you have.

Curiosity piqued!

 

Sorry, these photos are pitiful.. I keep looking for a class or something so I can do pictures..

Thanks already! -- I thought a proof was described as being like a mirror..

Lucy

 

not always the term proof is used because the coins are struck with specially polished dies to dispaly the fineness of the coin and are usually collection pieces only.and they can either be mirrored or frosted, but what ever they are always usually flawless examples of the coins in question.

 

They were not like they are now Lucy. Older proofs were more like sharply struck regular coins, not the cameo proofs you see post 1967.

Great catch Conder. She should see if they might be a proof set.

 

The pics are fine Lucy. Could be better, but we all strive to shoot better coin pics. Wait to see what Conder circles back to say about these but they don't look like cello bags to me, more like a poly of some sort. Regardless, it's a nice find you came across tucked away for 'later' in that little trinket box. :smile

 

I'm 98% sure what you have is a 1940 proof set where the cello bags have been replaced with polybags (probably because the cellophane was splitting.) Personally I would still leave them alone unless you really know how to handle coins like these. It is VERY easy to damage the surfaces and seriously affect the value. As it is it is probably worth retail between $1200 and $1400 dollars. (What does the "trinket box" look like? I'm wondering if it is the original box.)

 

Hi Conder101, Thank you for your valued opinion. I bet you are correct, for since the explanation of proofs not necessarily having to be like a mirror, I seem to remember Dave telling me he got a proof set for 1940, and 1957, birth years.. At any rate, the trinket box is in fact mine, having nothing to do with coins, but rather just a little jeweled box. The 1957 "proof set" that I have is in the cellophane you all speak of..crinkly...
You say do nothing with them, leave them alone.. what about putting them into the holder Krispy ref'd? I looked at them, liked the red one, but if I want one must look for a dealer. Will I keep them? Probably not..at least I don't think so. Not for the long haul anyway.. Perhaps for now? Bet if I were to sell them, someone would give me (offer me) 91 cents and tell me it's a good deal...that's the way it's been going, I must say (bullseye!)
I know not to do that, I know not to open the coins (at this time), I know if I do to be sure I have gloves on, I know that if I intend to 'get rid of them' then logically, I should probably not put them into a holder. All true?

Thank you again, and thank everyone for your input and advice. For the moment I'll think on it all and put the set safely away, out of the trinket box.

Kind regards,
Lucy

 

That was my also my first thought until I read 1-1/2x1-1/2 baggies. and she knows what a proof looks like.... then again.....

Lucy, as others have mentioned, don't do anything with them until you found a way to post pics, even if they are cell phone pics..


OOOOPS should have read the whole thread. LUCY that is a proof set. Go no farther and treat them like gold because they very could be worth that!


Lucy does the box look like one of these?

 

:bow:Awesome find. I am salivating because I am putting together a 1940 mint set in memory of my father.

 

ummm... lucy those are pretty darn good for a cell phone,(they are cell phone pics right?) id like to see what you could do with a better cam.

 

Great find !

 

Great find Lucy! Wow.

 

Ha ha! If I could find a camera that actually has a look through spot..seems they all just have the screen on the back and frankly, my eyes need that little hole! I keep looking for the right one.
Thanks, Lucy

 

Viewfinders on most compact cameras don't allow you to look through the lens directly at what you would be shooting anymore than does the big screen on the back of digital cameras. If you want to see what your lens is seeing you need a Digital SLR (DSLR). The screen on most cameras is more than sufficient for composing images in real time of what you want to shoot and should be easier on your eyes than squinting into a tiny viewfinder, which is why many of those are disappearing from compact digital point-and-shoot cameras. No matter what you are using to shoot with, coin pics are greatly improved with adequate lighting and when the camera is mounted to a tripod or copy stand to eliminate camera-shake. But your photos earlier in the thread are sufficient for this thread. Maybe others need more views of the coins in question, so you could post more photos with what you currently have as a camera if needed. I think you did a great job with what you posted so far considering it's just a cell phone camera.

 

Wow! What a wonderful find, and right under your nose all the time! There's no question. It is a proof set. Sometimes, the mirrors don't appear to be there through the old cello or plastic, but once they are removed (DON'T DO IT!) they will probably glisten like icicles in the sun. Congratulations!

Chris

 

I don't know, Doug, that looks like an awfully strong strike on that Lincoln cent, and I don't see a mark on it or the Walker. Those baggies can play tricks with the mirrors.

Chris