Heya! Newbie here with a query. From my grandfather's 'collection,' I came across three sheets of what appears to be mint flats, with cents dated from 1959 to 1971, differing mint marks, mostly in sequence, but not all. They look like the same material the souvenir sets are made, but no authenticating medallion to go with them. Some of the coins also have marks that lead me to believe they were taken from uncirculated, or AU rolls and custom packed. Did the mint do custom sealing, or is this something else entirely?
Not the best camera (nor setup), but these should give you an idea at the least. And I agree with you, physics-fan3.14. I'm just trying to find out where. The plastic does resemble mint set material.
Plenty of people used cellophane... I'm guessing it was a "special collectable set" like you see today advertised in the newspaper and TV.
It is not an official product from the mint. More than likely, it is some sort of promotional or "collector" set put together by a 3rd party (as @Burton Strauss III suggested). It actually looks like a nice job and has kept the coins in reasonably decent condition. However, they probably aren't worth much more than the standard, run of mill Unc early Lincoln Memorials. They would make a great start to Lincoln Memorial set collection. Keeping them in the plastic may help keep them from toning, but IMO, I see no problem if they are removed.
The mint doesn't keep any "back-dates" to speak of and doesn't package them for sale like that. Definitely an aftermarket product.
I thought it would be after the fact, and not direct from the mint. He didn't have any sealing gear in his paraphenalia, so I had wondered where he had these done. That's why I was asking if the Mint did 'special orders' on site BITD, like a souvenir shop or something like that. Guess it will remain a mystery. The biggest reason for the query is that I have several spots in my Dansco book that could use improved quality coins or a couple of emptys that can be filled. I didn't want to open these if they had some sort of 'official' designation.
Note that the cents are in circular spaces, the mint sets from the mint did not have circular openings. This would require a custom sealing die. No mint product has such a sealing die so it is most certainly an aftermarket product.
