I am looking for help in understanding this, so please be patient with a new(ish) collector in his search for knowledge. I have been collecting coins for 30+ years since I was a kid. It started with finding coins older than the current decade we were in, to looking back at a collection my parents had (early 1900s). It sparked an interest that has lasted throughout my life. As I am older now, I have begun really looking at my collection, and started to put an amateur value to what I have collected over the years. More recently in my newest acquisitions I have begun collecting proof coin sets. As I have been doing my research on proof sets from different years, and learning about the collections, and their histories, I have had this question come to mind: What is the difference between a proof set, and a proof coin? Why do proof sets have a lower coin value, together than the coin as an individual coin, even though the coins in the set are typically the same proof coins you see graded individually? This came to mind when I was putting a value on a 1980 proof set. From PCGS the proof set has a $8.00 value. When I was looking at the coins individually, the same coins from from the set have a vastly different individual value. For this example I used the PCGS proof value PR 63 on the 1980 coins: Penny - $3.00 Nickel - $4.00 Dime - $5.00 Quarter - $5.00 Half Dollar - $4.00 SBA Dollar - $16.00 Individual Coin Totals - $37.00 What is the difference between the proofs in the set and the proofs individually? Do collectors separate the sets (break the sets open) to grade them individually, or is that the grading company (like PCGS)? What is the thinking on this (breaking open sets)? Is it considered taboo in the coin collecting world? Please help a new(ish) collector understand. I have attached a copy of my 1980 proof set that prompted these questions.
Fair question! I think of it kinda like auto parts. If you had a car that cost $25k, but then tried to go buy the individual parts that make up that car - you'd pay a lot more. Individual handling adds (whether it's someone who busted the coin out of its plastic set and sold it raw, or sent it in to a grading company like PCGS, CACG, or NGC, it had individual attention). But then, the finest individual coins from multiple proof sets can be assembled for someone who really wants a top-pop set. Modern proof coins tend to be common and not hold much value. Oodles of them sell now for less than what the mint originally charged for them. (Ask me how I know this sad fact). So, what makes individual modern proof coins more valuable? 1. Errors (like "no-S mintmark" varieties) 2. Great beauty - for a coin that managed to tone nicely (often busted out of its case in the first place) 3. High grade - which is "conditional rarity." There may be a ton of PR-63s (and that's a grade that nobody would covet), but not so many PR-70. Some folks want the best and pay up for it. There can be a single coin that is much better than its brethren in a specific set. 4. Actual scarcity - a year that produced fewer sets overall is valued higher (e.g. 2012), whether it be as a set or as individual coins. 5. For graded coins, they can have additional descriptors applied like "DCAM" for Deep Cameo that differentiate them from the population. Proof sets aren't generally a great investment, although they are beautiful. The older sets, however, can be a good investment. If you consider the 1936-1942 run of proofs, they hold up their (considerable) values, especially the scarce 1936 coins.
I would agree with bikergeek on all points, however, to have them in their original packaging at some point pays off. Try finding one of those earlier sets mentioned intact. Despite the high mintages those later sets are broken open in huge numbers for the reason you've mentioned and thus reducing the availability. And there will always be collectors searching for original sets willing to pay up at times.
Some people do break open the sets to have individual coins graded, if they find rare errors, varieties, or just individual coins that are in better condition than the average. The Ben Franklin years (1950-1963) people especially like "cherry-picking" the half dollars to find ones with a cameo effect (high contrast between the field and devices). I personally prefer to keep them in original packaging, as far back as they were in hard plastic casing (so as far back as 1968). 1964 and earlier I put them in Capitol holders made for the purpose, as the packaging is quite flimsy and I'd rather have them better protected. Unless you have a good reason not to, like if you're cherry-picking errors, varieties, or especially high grade coins, I'd probably suggest leaving them in the original packaging, as there is some value to that, as the older a given set gets the less of them remain original. Just my personal preference, although it's a quite common preference. Exception I made is 1964 and earlier, as that packaging is really flimsy, and putting them in Capitol holders is almost a tradition. (I still save the packaging they came in separately though.) I like collecting them as I see them as sort of the yearbook of coins. I have them as far back as 1960 so far and am trying to go back as far as I can reasonably afford.
