Does anyone know of an on-line resource that lists original prices on eighties and nineties uncirculated sets and proof sets? As I track my gains and losses while I comb out my collection I don't know what to use as a basis on these sets I bought from the mint decades ago. Thanks.
Yes, they are listed in the Red Book as @Jeffjay said, but, you won't like what you see. Most are worth much less than the original cost. We don't buy sets from the mint and put them back as an investment.
I've never sold any coins from the Mint, but about 10 years ago I asked a coin dealer at a flea market what my clad proof sets were worth to him. He looked in his red book and came up with a $3.00 per set value. When I see HSN selling the same coin sets (1999 to 2009) for $149-199 I can only laugh.
Good luck even getting 3 Most dealers wont even give you face value atm when buying them. They tell you they have to crack the coins out to so they give you under. I took in some state quarter proofs to 7 different guys just to see how bad it realy was and only 1 offered me over 2$ and it was 2.25 any of the 1971-73 sets are face and all sets before 99 that dont have a ike of sba. Ikes and Sba sets usually you can get 5 bucks. My best suggestion IF your going to sell is to put them on a marketplace group and list it as auction. People will bid it up and you will get your best value. Or keep them another 50 years maby all the coin dealers will cull the complete sets enough to raise the value.
I watched that program one night when I happened to come across it and they were selling coins, the "Certified Numismatist" must have got his certification from the same person that sold him the weed he had to be smoking. He kept going on and on about how valuable and rare the 1964 Mint Set was and that at 200+ dollars, he truly believed that was a great deal! Watch the program with a copy of the Red Book or Coin World that show the highest prices and then try not to laugh at what they offer. Stay safe.
SKM, are you sure the flea market dealer wasn't looking at the blue book, a dealers quote guide. The blue book is a slap in the face to Red Book patrons.
Buying proof sets with the expectation that their value will increase over time has been a losing proposition for decades. I'm sorry I stopped in 2003, I should have stopped in 1964, at least the silver has increased in value if nothing else.
To me, the low cost of these is a gift to the hobby. i buy them all the time. An off the record guess is that I have bought 400+. I still do, and I can do so for an even lower price than they are already.....and that is a pretty silly low price, if one takes a moment and thinks about it.... by buying 1-20 etc. from a Dealer at a Show, or at the end of a Show. It is not about investing (for a $ return to me personally).
I definitely don't need that quantity for my personal collection. maybe a 100 or so (that is a tongue in cheek joke), but not all of them. I admit to being a food glutton, though.
they're listed in Coins Magazine and Numismatic News magazine. Both issue price and current value. If you're not a subscriber, many grocery stores and newsstands will have Coins magazine. NOT Coin World. I'm not aware of an online source but MAYBE one of those two publications has an online list.
This scares the heck out of me. My father left me his "coin collection" and, until I read this thread, I though it would help me when I retired. When I took them to a local dealer, he tried to tell me they weren't worth much. He tried to hold back his laughter, but I could see how worthless or of little worth my father's "coin collection" is. I watch several of the online coin shows and can't believe what they are selling their coins for. The Proof and Reverse Proof 2019 S cents were selling for over $100 each. I didn't get mine for free, because I bought the 3 packages that the 3 2019W's.
Thanks for all the input and leads. Oh yeah, I know there isn't any money in selling proof sets and uncirculated sets, except for a very very very few low mintage ones. Nevertheless I'll try to move them one way or another.
Without even looking, I can remember sending off my $2.10 to the Philly mint for my annual flat-pak proof set from sometime about 1958 through 1964...I think they went up shortly after that when, after a three-year pause, things began to get very complicated with clad and composition, mint marks, holders, and so-on...but still so much simpler/easier than today.
Most dealers aren't worth the time of day. Anyone with respect for the customer would say they just can't do anything with them or suggest they're cracked out and spent. Offering under face value is just...............
Check your proof sets carefully as some individual coins are worth a lot. The 71-s dcam quarter retail is $2850 in a grade of 69. Edit: here is one of mine. Too chicken to crack out and send in...
Try here: https://mintsetguide.com They have original prices, pictures, and other bits of information about each year.