Have Proofs, Where to begin?

Having retired, I've finally got around to taking a look at my coin collection- I'm one of those who just put proof sets away and never bothered to even open them. So- I have about 140 proof sets dating back to 1953- about 120 in the 70's and 80's. I've just started studying the grading process, so feel limited in my grading skills at present- but I feel confident that I will show improvement over the next few months.
One of the reasons that I didn't take an active interest in looking at my proofs was that the advertised prices for proof sets are nil (except for 1950's proofs). However, my interst was stimulated by looking at the prices shown on the PCGS site for individual proof coins. MIne are all in their original containers (even the 1953 box) and I can't see any deterioration - but I just purchased 5x and 10x magnifiers, so I can look closer.
My question is, how likely is it that, of the nearly 1000 proof coins I have, that any of them will grade out at the higher grades?
Are the top grades scattered randomly over a particular year's minting, or are they bunched together at the start of the proof production run?
Will I have to remove the coins from their holders to be able to grade them accurately?
(I'm having trouble with looking through the cases- shadows, etc.)

Any advice will be appreciated.

 

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Welcome to the forum. I'm not so sure about proof grading, if you see a nicer one from an earler set you can send it to PCGS or NGC for grading and see what happens. If you haven't looked at your sets, there are quite a few error sets that are worth a nice bit of change, 1968 no S dime, 1971 no S nickel, 1975 no S dime, 1979 clear S on the Anthony Dollar, 1983 no S dime, and 1990 no S cent. As for removing the coins..i'm not sure but I think you can probably send it in the set to the graading service, and they will take care of it. If you have 1000s of proof coins I am willing to bet you will get a good number of them in a higher-echelon grade. BTW, to warn you the PCGS price guide tends to be a bit hyped up, so watch yourself. The 1953 proof set is worth a good amount, 350-400 retail. I'm rambling now, but good luck with your coins.

 

WELCOME TO OUR FORUM GLAD TO HAVE YOU:hail:

 

Hmmmm those 53-59 sets sound tasty enough for me. That would bring my collection complete back until 1953. from 196 to current was easy lol.

 

Welcome ProofRon.

I've got a lot of proof coins from the mid 50's and early 60's too. It's really difficult to get a grade out of these coins because the plastic plays tricks with the light and possible marks on the coins, but you just hold onto those sets.

You could send them to me!!!

 

Just why do you want to have proof coins graded anyway? Are you planning on selling each coin separately? Are you even planning on selling your proof coins? What is the purpose of doing this?
If you have been collecting proofs for all these years I would think you would be interested in just having your collection and the heck with a grade on each coin. What would you expect anyway? PF66, PF67, PF1,000? As already noted you would be pretty much wasting your money having most of them graded and slabbed unless you are planning on becoming a coin dealer.

 

I started buying multiple proof sets as an investment- 3's/4's in 60's, usually 5 sets in 70's/80's. Somehow ended up with 10 1986 proof sets and 10 1090 sets.. Also have a lot of individual silver proofs and commemoratives and a few uncirculated sets beginning in 1958. I'd like to get some return, but can't see selling proof sets for $5 or $6- Would rather donate them to a charity. That's why I am asking if there is some chance that any of these coins might grade out at 68/69, just to give me some hope that my grading them individually might pay off.

 

Thanks, guys-
I'll continue to try to improve my grading skills on the coins I have, but without high expectations of finding anything great. I will post pics if I think I have found something that might be of high grade.

 

This is the dude who knows mucho around here. Give his words more weight.

 

Proof sets dismantled

I, too, had quite a stash of proof sets from the 50's and early 60's that I could have simply sold off intact. I decided to have some fun and see what was in all those envelopes and Capital holders. The first few sets I opened from 1955 and 1956 certainly didn't look like "matched sets"! Two of the cents and one of the nickels were spotted and hazy while the other denominations looked fine (to the naked eye). The pre-55 sets in Capital holders were also a mixed bag. I seemed to have purchased a couple of sets more for the beautiful holders than beautiful coins. Nevertheless, some gorgeous coins did emerge as I went along. The packing had basically made it impossible to see the coins! Some had the potential for grading and sale (using 1/2 of the PCGS $ guide) but that assumed I was in the ballpark on my grading. My birthday gift during this process was a magnifying lamp which starkly revealed that some of the Capital coins had been brushed on the devices leaving hairlined areas. So where am I going with this:

1) Some of the coiins have made and will make nice "birth year" gifts. I've never been a big Franklin half fan, but they made a big hit with a few of my buddies even though they were PR65 at best! I'm putting together nicely matched year sets for the same purpose.

2) Some of the coins were sent off for grading. I have no use for 19 half dollars from 1956 but the little "grading set" of TPG coins I've put together suggests that some of them will more than pay their way.

3.) Many stunning coins are not worth paying for grading. Nevertheless, some of the toned and cameo coins are spectacular! I'm assembling the best of the best of these into Capital holdiers just to have a run of beauties.

4) Variations in Mint packaging over the years seems to have had an influence on the preservation of the sets. Some years just stunk (even though they were all kept in low humidity boxes over the years.)

5) To fend off collectors who saw imperfections in their proof sets, the mint had issued various statements with their sets like "Your proof set has been carefully inspected etc. etc." This is why I have retained and will cherish my mint packaged proof set with the spider in one of the compartments!

6) I still can not distiguish PR67 from PR68 but I'm pretty comfortable sorting things into the "old" subjective categories of Choice, Gem and Superb Gem. If there's something worth having graded, I'll let the pros sort out the number.

I'm glad I spent the time and effort to get to know what I had and learn a bit about the gradiing process.

 

I agree that the packaging seems to have a lot to do with the quality of preservation, but there are some years that the whole Denver set seems to be more uncirculated than proof.
I've only gone through about half of my proof sets without finding anything spectacular- I got a little bored with the proofs and started looking at my Uncirculated Mint Sets and that got my adrenaline flowing- I'm sure that being inexperienced I will overgrade, but I found a 1986 Mint set that looks to me like every coin in the 'P' set is MS-69/70. I'll spend a lot more time studying them before I send them off for grading, but my expectations are increasing.
Does anyone actually grade an entire Proof or Uncirculated Set? Or do you have to break them down to get individual coins graded?

 

I don't know if this is allowed in the forums, but ProofRon: I sent you a private message on the 6th.

If notifying users of PMs they apparently haven't seen or replied to in the general forum is prohibited, I apologize.

 

Disassembling 50's proof sets

It was quite a learning experince! I set some pretty tough criteria for submission to NGC or PCGS and this limited submissions to about 100.
-I have no clue regarding Rooevelt dimes. I submitted a batch from "55 and "56 which I could not separate and got 68, 65, 68, 65, 68. I think I'll stick with bigger coins.
-I delayed submitting one 1952 quarter because a nick on the eagle made me unsure whether it would meet my proof 65 cutoff. Came back "superbird". I gotta get a better loupe.
-Some of the lincolns in capital and other holders had toned beautifully but didn't make the cut for grading. Nice to have though.
-I haven't explored what the marketplace makes of NGC "star" coins but I like them..

 

I'm starting to get some of my PGCS submits back-although the 8 coins they received on 8/18 are still in the process.
I submitted a 1991 proof set that I had graded at PR69/70, and they all came back as PR69DC's, which wont pay for the grading.
A 1991 US Mint set that I had graded in the MS66/67 range all came back about 2 grades less than I had guessed- one MS66, the others MS64/65. The nickels and dimes I submitted as FB and FS didn't grade as such, so I have a lot to learn about these designations.
Disappointed so far, but waiting to hear how my 1989 $5 Gold Congress Bicentennial and 1990 $5 Gold American Eagle grade out.

 

I've noticed that sometimes you can do exactly the right thing in collecting for investment purposes, but the coin market will try your patience and wait you out. I think you most likely have a wonderful collection that someday will create a lot of excitement and value for the owner. The problem might be that not enough time has passed yet. In another 50 to 100 years, the exact collection you own might be considered a valuable rarity because few others stayed intact. Unfortunately for coin collectors, we just don't have the 250 year lifespans required to really really benefit from the collections we assemble in our youth.

So where I'm going with this is to suggest you pack them away carefully with instructions for some future generation of your family. They will love your letter, and it might actually make a significant difference in their finances.

 

That is a pretty rare find!!!...I don't know if you have searched out what a Superbird is or not but I think the last one I saw on ebay went for a few hundred.

Speedy