Mint Sets & Proof Sets for DAYS!

Hey guys,

My grandmother moved into a nursing home and while we were cleaning out her house I found a TON of Uncirculated Mint Sets and Proof Mint Sets. Some of them had several multiples of the same year.

Personally I would never ever buy those things but I know my grandparents bought them back in the 1970s & 1980s so there was nothing I could do to stop them from buying these since I wasn't born in 1980.

I also found a few silver 1984 Olympic commemorative coins and a couple of George Washington 250th birthday anniversary silver coins.

Those are the only silver things I found.

My question is: Is it worth sharing the Mint & Proof sets I have on here? Or are all of them pretty worthless?

None of them are older than 1978-1979.

But are there any errors or varieties in later years that I should look for?

If you'd like to see ALL of the Mint & Proof sets I found let me know. It's just that there's a giant box of them and I wanted to wait and see before getting it all out.

Thanks

 

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I wouldn't call them worthless but they're not very valuable. Here's one on eBay now:

Proof sets for the same years are even cheaper.

 

Yeah but that’s only 1978.

I have like 20 years worth of sets and I’m wondering if I should look through them for any errors/varieties.

 

You can check for the few varieties of Proof Sets here on PCGS

You can check the Mint Sets here on PCGS

Good luck

 

But isn’t that pre-searched sets?

I mean it says a 1955 Mint Set is under $100..

But if that Mint Set had a 1955 DDO Lincoln Cent it would be worth WAY more.

That’s what I’m asking. If there’s anything I should look for in the sets that might be worth taking out of the set before selling them as sets.

 

Oh here is some of the other stuff.

 

FYI, I have a complete set from 1968 to 1998 and most are about $10? Best thing I've done with them is let the 4 grandkids look through them and hope the coin bug sticks with 1 or 2 of them?

 

There are some of the Proof Sets that are missing the mintmark on one specific coin, and they are worth a lot of money - 1983 "No S" dime; 1990 "No S" penny. (DO NOT REMOVE THEM!)

 

Here are a few, which if you find bring $100 or more.

1992, both P&D Lincoln Cent close AM. A recent 1992d brought $3550 on EBAY
1998s and 1999s Lincoln Cent close AM

1998, 1999 and 2000 Wide AM Lincoln Cent. The '98 being the rarest of the three, around $300.

1979s type two
1981s type two This would be all denominations, although not all may be a clear S within the set.

In the 1978 and earlier, examine the Eisenhower Dollar closely. Higher grades, those in MS66 or higher are scarce. Each grade jumps substantial above that to the registry collectors.

So there's a start. Good luck.

 

It all depends on the year. They're not worthless but you're not going to retire.

 

I would be looking for conditional rarity's. It is the only place you might find value besides the variety's already posted.

 

Here is a link to varieties found in mint sets.
http://www.lincolncentforum.com/varieties-found-in-mint-sets/

 

On the NGC website, they have a lookup under Resources. "Variety Plus". This is a list of varieties they recognize and will attribute for a fee, some are free. You can search for both mint strikes and proof strikes. It doesn't cover all varieties but is a good start and most have photos for comparison. I find it helpful.

 

I have many sets and commemorative coins, including silver, gold, and platinum. I check each coin individually for present day value from the Red book, Numismatic News, and other resources. It's tedious and time consuming but it gives me peace of mind that all are dated, valued, and logged properly.

 

Some of the Ike's and Susan B Anthony have value.

 

The Ike has many varieties and all three coins are 40% silver. Ike's are notorious for bag marks if your reverse is as nice as the obverse it is worth having graded as it could grade above MS 66.

 

Those coins were also 90% silver, yours sets are shiny plated slugs if not older than 1978, except for the ones that say they are silver.

Ebay might be the best way to liquidate what you don't want to keep. I got rid of all my proof slugs last year...

 

Before you do anything, I would hope you have asked grandma what SHE wants to do with them.

 

You didn't say why your grandmother went into a nursing home. So like Mountain Man said I hope you at least asked your grandmother what she wants to do with them. They are her property!!! If she went into a nursing home because she has dementia or something similar then it would fall on her children to decide what to do. If they want you to figure it out great but, be careful with what you do or say. The sets have value which I think you already know. Do not assume no family member has any interest in them at all. That's a quick way to start a family fight over something that not worth damaging family relationships over. Even if there is nothing rare in any of the sets there is an easy way to handle the situation. Assuming there are no varieties of value in the sets go on line and find out what they are selling for. Knock off about 40% from the sell price and that would give you an idea of what they could be sold for. The silver coins would be bought at melt or little over melt so that's what they're worth.

Now what do you do. I'm going to only tell you what I would do. Be very honest about how you came up with the value. Also tell them that just because something looks nice or in a case doesn't mean it's worth much.

Lets assume your grandmother had 4 children. Lets also assume she had 20 sets (trying to keep the math simple). Assuming you could divide the sets by value then simply divide the sets equally by 4. Very simple and there shouldn't be any issues as long as you are honest with you valuation.

Personal advise, I would like to assume family members get along pretty good but, in some cases that not true. By doing what I said above is about as fair as you can be. Also you will find out very fast the people that are interested in them and those that aren't. If no one is interested in them than either offer them the price you came up with and then sell them yourself or keep them. You may even find that some of your family members know your interested in coins and they may just say You Keep Them, no worries!

However, if Grandma is mentally sound do not do anything without her knowing it will turn out bad for you. She may tell you to sell everything and take everyone out for a nice dinner on her. When people get to the point of going into a nursing home and they find out family members are picking through their stuff like they're already dead it can be devastating for them. I've seen where families get ripped apart for really stupid reasons and they never recover.

 

@1865King

Take it from the voice of experience, when it comes to money, even your brothers and sisters can turn on you.