A truly unopened early proof set

That set looks better than mine, check out the haze I have:

 

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Well, obviously no, but with reservations; in the case of the OP's unopened proof box, no reasonable person would buy a pig-in-a-poke. In my collection, the original packing is the only way , for me. of course, I do look in the box! The last few years my mint sets, I don't even open them, the little brown cardboard boxes are destroyed if you open, and I guess I place a lot of faith and trust in the US Mint that they actually put coins in the box. When my time is up and the collection is in the hands of my grandkids, who knows? thanks, Douglas

 

From what I can see, those coins look nice! In 1974 I bought 2 1953 Proof Sets in the orig. 'Cello, with the tissue paper, (but no boxes, ouch!--who knew the boxes would be worth so much?), for $39 each. Sold them a couple of years ago, & some of the coins had some hazing, a few minor black spots, etc., but not too bad. I'd kept them in the original cellophane packets the whole time.

As far as the eternal "unopened proof set" debate: it seems bizarre to me to buy something that, if you ever open the box or envelope to see the contents, it will then be worth less (given some of the premiums paid for "unopened proof sets"). I understand the premium for some collectibles with the orig. boxes, like vintage toys, but those boxes are cool, & you don't have to buy them/sell them/keep them sealed in a brown wrapper & not see the toy.

Just my 2cents.....

 

Yikes! These have been with me for what seems like forever. I do not know the exact origin - (whether they were from the mint directly to my grandfather-these were left to me from my father)

They ares afely stored away now, so safe, not sure where they are at ..... A couple of these have been opened, I haven't opened any recently, everyone tells me that they look too new to be real. They are real.. I really should take a pic of my past and current storage technique.

Yo Dutch, if you don't mind me asking. What do you think the market value is for the '53 box set? PM if you prefer. Tx!

 

Oh man, that's messed up!! Dang washers were probably from China too.

 

when I buy a proof or mint set to add to my collection, my first concern is original packing,
if it doesn't have it, I pass. My second concern is condition of the coins and if they are
priced accordingly. That's just me, I don't want any sets that have been molested and
put into plastic holders. I guess that's why they have vanilla ice cream and chocolate ice cream.

That picture on the previous page, that's what i'm talking about!

 

Agreed !, packing is one of the "easiest" things in the world to replicate, even old packing... toooo easy. I consider all OBW and OPacked things I encounter a flat out lie, and upon "close" inspection I have never been wrong. (considering only 50's and earlier wrapping within this statement).

 

LostDutchman: Those are beautiful coins! :yes:

 

Surely you don’t need that many, so I have a suggestion as to where some of those can go. :yes: :hail:

 

The biggest problem with these early 1950s unopened proof sets is that the only way to find out whether or not the set is genuine, you have to open it and ruin the premium for an unopened set.

ironic, no?

 

Don't let him fool ya. That's a partial shot of the gift wrap counter at Target.......

 

HAHAHAHAHA...that's so true. Look at the haze that developed on my Grandpa's unopened set. The chances are FAR greater than you're going to open the set and be disappointed rather than find a bunch of deep cameo coins in pristine condition.

 

Sealed proof sets

I have been reading the posts on CoinTalk just recently after years of absence from the site! I have been a collector for 69 years having started at the age of five spurred on by my grandmother who was a collector.
I sell on eBay and have sold thousands of sealed proof sets! Yes, there is such an animal some on this site seem to not realize that there is such a thing as an investment! I have purchased sealed proof sets in boxes of 25, 50, 75, and 100. People bought and paid for these in those years from 1950 to present day on the more modern proof sets and did not open the boxes just stored them away. Of course, when they are sold most times they are opened to check out the contents which is a good idea. The proof set pictured is authentic! I don't know if you noticed or not but the so-called commonly bought packing tape sold today has a finger pull on the back of the box. You open this with your fingernail and voila you have the insides. For those of you who do not know what is inside: What they used to call scratch paper is wrapped around the coins which unfortunately were in celophane no mylar at that time. The square cellophane packets were stapled together with a staple, (bad idea because this tarnished the coins if moisture was present), and contained the Franklin proof half the proof Washington quarter, proof Roosevelt dime, the Jefferson nickel and the Lincoln penny. People did open these and transferred the coins to plastic containers to keep them from getting tarnished, spotted, milky etc.

I have sold sealed box sets from 1950-1955 and you could sometimes buy them from estate sales in bulk from people who invested in them for the rarity and for the investment in silver. There are a few unscrupulous dealers and sellers on eBay who use new envelopes and seal the coins inside. The tip to telling whether they are original or not is mainly the glue line on the back of the flap. If you inspect the line and it is present the set is authentic being no way to duplicate this unless it is some person who is ill-informed as to the value of proof sets. The USMint subcontracted for these envelopes as for example in 1957 there were seven different kinds of envelopes even one that was white as the later mint sets not to be confused with proof sets! From 1950 to 1955 proof sets came in the boxes and in 1955 later in that year in envelopes but they had rippled cardboard inside so the envelope was thicker as with some 1957 Proof sets. They went to the envelopes to better protect the coins!
Now, as to "Cameo" coins? Only the first 14 coins to come off the press from a new or reworked die will produce a cameo in those years! Thus, don't expect a cameo but if you find one you have totally rubbed Buddahs' stomach. I have opened some sets that had a small tear in the corner and I did not want to sell them in that condition. One of these I opened was a sealed 1964 Kennedy and it turned out to be an accented hair Kennedy. I sent it in to NGC to be graded and it came back a proof 65. Storyline to the accented hair Kennedy: Seems the mint director gave one of the new Kennedy proofs to Jackie Kennedy and she remarked that the hair was too thin above the ear so later in that year they reworked the dies in that area adding more hair in that region of the coin.

Like has been said for eons if it were not for birthdays and Christmas proof sets would not be sold. Proof sets are not that great of an investment unless you bought in those years for $2.10 a set as I did and prior to that $1.80 per set. The beauty part of the old proof sets were that they were sealed inside an envelope unlike most United States Mint Sets which some were sealed and some were not. After all to me coins are history and I like to read about history! The proof sets today are valued for the silver content which like all commodities has its' ups and downs but luckily at the present time ups'. The new proof sets are overpriced for the silver content so I don't buy as many and I have sold all the "sealed sets" that I had in my possession. There is still one dealer on eBay whom I know personally who is an expert on proof sets of that era. I don't pretend to know an iota of what he does about proof sets as he has even written a book on them. He still goes all over the country to estate sales gathering up the few remaining sealed boxes and sells them on eBay. Even he is running short of sealed sets they being scarcer and harder to find. Eventually I guess there will be no more sealed sets as they will be opened by the people who buy them.
I am getting too old to collect all this stuff and my son is not that interested in coins so I am selling off tons of coins. eBay is not doing too well right now due to the economy but don't stop collecting coins they are doing great the only drawback I can see is that the Mint is charging way too much over the price of gold and silver. I am still collecting the Kennedy halves and the Presidential dollars to complete whole sets and have kept a complete UNC FBL of the Franklin halves and have a nice collection of complete mercury dimes even with the 42/1 P. Rumor is they have to change the Kennedy half in 2012 which only we will know next year if they change it! Keep collecting like mad wish I was as young as some of you and could start all over again nothing like coin collecting for fun and profit, have fun with your coins. Note: As with any blog there will be sceptics and without them the world would not turn!

 

DING DING DING!! We have a winner!

 

I thought they came in manila U.S. Mint envelopes?