Online and around town it is often easy to find reasonably priced mint sets from the 1960's to the present. However, mostly they seem to be cherry picked, leaving behind sets with flaws and lesser quality coins. How does someone acquire better quality sets? Clearly Ebay is not a solution to this. Ruben
Ruben: Probably the hardest way to get unpicked through sets is from private collectors. But it is the best way to find choice pieces.
I spent many years working on my collection of Proof sets and Mint sets, always striving to find the best examples I could. It was not uncommon for me to search through over a thousand sets at a time when at a coin show. And in all that searching I might find only 1 or 2 sets that I thought were worth buying. It was not an easy task and it took many years to complete the sets. That being said, it was some years ago that I did this and it is only getting harder as the years progress. As always, patience is your friend when trying to complete these sets.
Of course not, as a matter of fact Proof and Mint sets are a very poor way to go if your purpose for investment. In fact all coins are a poor way to go if your purpose is to show a profit.
My purpose for coin collecting is not for profit. I am just curious to know if I decide to start purchasing proof sets..when I pass on ..and if my children wish to sell them..Will they make a profit?
That depends on several things. The coin market is like any other, values move up and down sometimes radically. There are people who bought coins in the late '80s that will likely never even recover what they spent. Back then many coins went from being worth $1500 one day to being worth $150 the next day. As for mint issued sets, many of them are selling for less today than when the mint sold them to begin with.
Howdy, About the only way is to cherry pick yourself from dealers or at shows. This is what I've done. It really helps to have a dealer or two that allows this, but what I've found helps, is TO BUY SOMETHING on a regular basis. By being a regular customer over the years, I have no problem is asking to see all their stuff, sitting down at table with a good light and taking my time. good luck, rono
I don't think the mint sets made since 1960 are heavily cherry picked. Oh sure, some specific dates are cherry picked. You're not as likely to find nice cameo SMS's for instance as you used to be but they were always quite scarce. There is a little cherry picking done on Ikes and varieties as well. It's getting almost impossible to find a small date '70 cent for instance. Mint sets tend to go from collectors to big wholesalers who destroy them to make denominational sets so the ones on the market just aren't all thaty picked over.
Aah my hometown! :hail: The worlds money fair right hear in my backyard! August 8th -?? Anyone from this forum going?
I was hoping that some dealers would specialize in decent proof sets since the ones I've gotten from the Mint over the year is much better than what I seem to be able to get as a back issue. I'm definetely not going to Milwaukee to a show. I've already spent too many days in that burg. Ruben
That might be the post-1960's mint sets, but I'm hoping to pick up Proofs. These, to the best of my knowledge, are heavily cherry picked because people want to win the lottery. Ruben
