I really have no interest in US Mint proofs in the nice velvet clamshell, etc. But at least they are a relatively dignified setting for a coin. I have a couple of Eisenhower dollar silver proofs, and they are in tacky 70s packages. Two of them are in cheap plastic like they use for lollipops, and have ugly blue plastic tokens with them, etc. One has a large milk spot even sealed in the plastic. I'm sure you've all seen them. One is in a giant plastic slab. I love these coins, esp. the back with the eagle landing on the moon. But I utterly despise the chinzy US Mint packaging and I feel it ruins my enjoyment of them. Is it important to keep these coins in their packaging in order to maintain value, or can I remove them if they are properly cared for?
Could you post a pic of the Silver Ike's, i would love to see one in it's OGP from the 70's. I have always been intrigued with these.
You can remove them if you wish, a lot of people do with little to no problem. just be careful cause they are proofs. Secondly, the ogp does add to the value when you want to resell them. It's one of those things that since a lot get cracked out, the fewer remain in ogp packaging and thus bring a premium.
The ones in the pilofilm with the blue tokens aren't proofs, they're business strikes. If you want to remove them from the packaging you won't lose much if any value. They have an S mintmark so they're easy to differentiate from a clad business strike.
Those are the ones, Green18. I paid for one, and the guy threw in the other two for ten bucks because he needed to unload them.
That cheap and chintzy packaging was state of the art for the early 70's and the clamshell velvet stuff did not come out until the 80's. Keep in mind that the Proof coins were sold for an unheard of $10.00 each while the blue business strikes were only $3.00 each.
Oh I dunno, isn't the chintzy packaging part of the charm? Anybody can have Born To Run on their iPod, but to have a copy on eight-track...
I've never seen true blue toning on a silver proof Ike, just the blue haze from chemical outgassing contamination from the plastic.
Yesterday on Art & Coin TV Rick Tomaska referred to those original '70s plastic Ike holders as "ticking time bombs," although I wondered how long it could potentially tick if 40 years later I see plenty of untarnished examples. Not that the plastic is non-reactive; I've also seen some pretty nasty ones whose only selling point was the original plastic.
