Hello---I am looking at an uncirculated 1953 British mint set in its original plastic wallet. Is the plastic used in 1953 harmful to these coins? Should they be removed and placed in archival safe material or would this harm their value? Thanks---John
According to the Sink catalog, no 1953 uncirculated set has been assembled by the royal mint. A proof set has been assembled, but that is a 10 piece set! It is a known fact that the royal mint also assembled sets in the past and the present for certain organisations and companies, but they are no where listed and no information can be found about it at the royal mint. As already stated: if it could harm the coins, the harm is already done. By the way, plastic is easily removable from the coins (standard technique that is applied by grading services).
These sets usually have pretty dark coins. Soaking them in acetone won't lighten them up very much but does seem to stop them from getting worse. Doesn't the plastic say it's Royal Mint? I don't recall right this minute but these are common sets of less than common coins and Krause lists them as $65 now. You'll lose a set premium for dismantling it but if you want the coins it might be the way to go. Sometimes you can just sell the set and buy the specific coins you want. But this is one of the sets I cut. Your set is lighter than most.
This IS an official set of the new queen's coins issued in 1953. I was given one at the time and had it for many years. The normal penny was only issued in this set, which is NOT a proof set. The plastic is not good for the coins and the majority of sets that I have seen in recent years show severe toning.
