I have coin sets identified as "United States Proof Set" in plastic cases but I am not sure they are Proof or Mint. They look highly polished but I don't see any "frosted" look. Is there a certain year that Mints started doing the "frosted" look? Also some of the coins in the sets have bleeding/coloring starting around the edge. Is this normal, does it affect the value?
If they say Proof Set, they’re Proof Sets. The bleeding/coloring does affect value, usually lessens value. But sometimes coloring can be prized by collectors. We do so love pictures and it would help us to help you
Echoing a previous member's question, where was this set aquired from? Personally, I have purchased quite a few "US Mint Sets" on Ebay and through online auctions that clearly had been opened up and then glued back together (of course, once the nicer coins had been extracted and replaced with garbage).
Not all proofs have a frosty look. This the difference between Proof, Cameo proof and Deep Cam proof.
Thank you for your responses. I've tried taking picture. You can see how the dime is discloring and bottom/bottom right corner of nickel you can see what looks like black color leaching.
That is an after market holder. Proof sets in 1964 were sold like this from the mint. https://www.govmint.com/1964-united-states-proof-set
Well, a 1964 proof set looks like this: However, that almost looks like a more recent mint-issued proof set lens. But maybe not. Either way, someone opened their proof set, put it in a nicer display, and now you have it. The toning on silver proofs like that is normal.
Here is a little tutorial for you on Proof set packaging. This 1950 set is in an after market Capital Plastics holder. This set originally came in a box that looked like this. The mint issued Proof sets in boxes like this until mid 1955. From mid 1955 to 1964, Proof sets came in flat packs that looked like this. Starting in 1968, the mint switched to hard plastic holders like this. The styles have changed over the years, but the mint continues to sell these sets in hard plastic. Here is a recent .999 silver set that is housed in hard plastic.
I bought these years ago from a private collector while in military and have been in storage. Now retired and have time to go through coins. Does this mean coins aren't silver... would I be better off breaking sets apart and placing in individual coin holders to protect them from coloring?
No, the coins appear to be legit, and they would have been silver in 1964. As noted above, somebody removed them from the mint flatpack and put them in the hard plastic holder. This is pretty common.
This 1994 set appears unopened and intact. Unopened sets in the mint lenses don't usually tone (as far as I've seen) and if you don't need individual coins for some other sets, I would leave them like that. If it were me.
That’s just plain fraud But if the seller doesn’t get called on it, they win, you lose My bank balance would be larger if I had no conscience
One more question. If someone repackaged into hard case then how do I actually know if they are proof or mint sate? Couldn't they have put mint state into a proof plastic container?
The 64 set is definitely proof. Could they be from different sets, YES. After market holders aren't anything new, and wouldn't worry about the coins being business strikes.
Proofs and business strikes look wildly different. I suppose you'll just get used to it. Proofs are struck multiple times with polished dies. You can tell by the mirror effect, the sharp rims and details, the care taken. Here's a proof and a mint state coin:
Thank you all. Another question. Is there any significance to mint mark placement? I've noticed on some coins a variation on location. The picture of proof penny shows it located way below date while others show it tucked up close to date.
MM were hand punched into each individual working die, before they were hardened. This happened up until 1989. So, MM placement can vary depending on the die pair used to strike each individual coin. It is also something we use to attribute variety's. After 1989 all the MM were punched into the master die used to make each working die, so the MM placement is the same.
