I called my local coin shop about this Canadian Centennial proof set, 1867 to 1967. They said they aren't even taking it because the coins in it are only 80% silver and I'm wondering what's that got to do with the price of tea in China? Unless they are only concerned with metals value and nothing more than that? https://www.cointalk.com/media/canadian-centennial-proof-set.6332/
I think your local coin shop misunderstood you. The most common centennial proof sets just have the silver coins, and yeah, they aren't really in favor right now -- they're very, very common, and 80% silver isn't as popular as 90% US coin silver. But the set you posted includes the $20 gold coin, with over half an ounce of gold. A shop might try to lowball you, but they would not turn down .900-fine gold. Current metal value for the gold coin alone is somewhere around $640, I think. The rest probably contain $20 worth of silver, but no one will offer you that much for them.
Yeah, because I think the lady on the phone was trying to relay info to the expert (just a clerk). I found it odd that she just didn't forward the call to the expert or maybe he was busy.
At the time the set sold for C$35-40 or so. American collectors bought them and snuck them into the USA just to have the gold coin.
A lot of dealers don't want to discuss buying or selling over the phone unless it is someone with whom they've had a long history. A face-to-face meeting is always the best option. Chris