The quickest way to render a beautiful 1961 US Proof set, worthless . . . . !

Well, it may not be the "quickest" way, but it sure disappointed me pretty quickly.

How to do it? Encapsulate it . . . . . .

Now I'm not talking about sending it off to third party grading companies to have them render their opinion on the grade and authenticity of each coin. I'm also not talking about hobbyists taking them ans "self-slabbing" them.

No, the encapsulating I am talking about is the "Star Wars" Hans Solo carbonite type of encapsulation.

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I mean, what the heck do you do with something like THIS?

The coins are nice and clean, preserved for eternity with no toning, no wear, no micro scratches.

A solid shell of lucite (or is it acrylic?) keeps them safe for my children's children.

Do these objects of exonumia have any value? What would YOU do with this if you owned it?

No idea why my Dad thought it was important enough to buy it in this form vs. a more accessible form.

Oh yeah, it's my eldest sister's birth year.

Z

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Some people enjoy that. They don't really care for coins for numismatic reasons, but they do get a 'birth year' set and it is useful.

 

I agree. I got a Morgan like this once in a purchased lot I made from an individual about five or six years ago. Luckily, somebody else wanted it and I sold it for $20.00. Still a cool effect though.

 

Better than this:

 

I have the twin to your Lucite monstrosity. My daughter gave it to me as a gift some years ago. It is sitting on my desk now.

 

Brothers from different Mothers . . . . . .

Z

 

I don't know which is worse . . . . . . the seat, or the carpet . . . . . .

Z

 

I didn't notice the carpet when I googled the image....thanks for the nightmares.

 

Are you sure that is carpet?

 

I think that's vinyl flooring. I guess the idea is that "stains and spills" won't show up, but I'm not sure it's worth it.

As for the Lucite cube, mine is a 1967 Canada set. I bought it for well under "silver value", but that's not really relevant, because it would cost a lot more than the silver's worth to get the coins out of the plastic. I just like the Centennial designs.

 

There was a post sometime last year where a fellow attempted to free coins from a Lucite tomb with a hammer. What he did not use were gloves and earned himself some nasty Lucite shards in his hands. Apparently that stuff breaks up in shards like glass.

 

The owner of my LCS tiled his shop's entire floor with Lincoln Cents. Right after he finished it, the landlord did not renew his lease and he had to move. Up came all those cents and his hernia with it.

 

I'd figure it's worth about the same as an average example of the same set in original packaging. Some like these to display on a desk or a shelf. With the sets being fairly common, it makes sense that someone thought of clever ways to use the coins (and probably sell them for well over what the market value was at the time).

 

What I dislike about this set is that the lucite has begun to "cloud" a bit on a few of the sides.

Can cloudy lucite be rehabilitated?

Inquiring minds . . . . .

Z

 

Maybe this can help?

https://www.hunker.com/13420781/how-to-clean-cloudy-acrylic

or this

https://www.architecturaldigest.com/story/how-to-clean-acrylic-furniture-decor

 

I had the cube with 1964 SMS... smashed it as best i could then used acetone to clear the last of it off the coins... but yeah.. ruined coins is pretty much what I got for my effort

 

Yeah but when they were put in the lucite the set was probably only worth 2 or 3 dollars. Until the Hunt brothers in 79/80 these were only worth about $3.

 

I don't mind it too much. It kills the value for sure but if you enjoy the coins like that its fine

 

Back then, $3 would pretty much fill your tank with gasoline.

Modern values for a 1961 proof set would pretty much do the same. Not sure I could buy a Big Mac with what I could sell this for today.

Z

 

Or pay your taxes on your Car