I'm thinking of assembling a proof set colleciton, with the primary purpose of collecting all the 's' mint issues. I don't have any particular desire to own both the silver and standard proof sets. Has either tended out outperform the other in terms of price appreciation? I like the idea of owning the silver, but with the volume the mint is cranking out these days, I'm not convinced any US coin produced after 1964 will be that good an investment. Thus, I'm thinking I'll just buy the standard. Thoughts?
if you are looking purely for investment, no question - get the silver. I agree, i do not think many coins post 1964 will gain in value any time soon - but - there are always exceptions
I agree with the silver proof sets. Most proof sets in general are worth less than issue. When you do get ready to buy, I would recommend haggling down the dealer on price. I would not pay the ask price. Proof sets are dropping in value because almost everyone is selling and very few buying. If a dealer is not willing to budge off the ask, find another. Most dealers will only pay half of current bid when they buy the proof sets. Example: Grey sheet bid is $6.00 & ask is $12.00 Dealer will probably pay $3.00 or so and try to sell for $12-$15 range. Talk them down, especially if you are getting a good number of proof sets. If just buying 1, then it may be a little harder to negotiate. Just my opinion
You can only get the newer proof sets from the mint. You will have to buy the older proof sets from a dealer or on ebay or something like that. Remember, you have the upper hand with proof sets because there are more sellers than buyers (unless they are the rarer proof sets)
I'm sorry, but what planet is this transaction taking place on??? I am looking at the greysheet and specifically proof sets in the under $20 range, and the largest spread between bid and ask that I see is the 1991 set that has a spread of about $1.50 or if done by percentage, the 1972 set which sells for under $5. Either way, a 100% spread between bid and ask is a rare occurence indeed. Although I agree with your premise (that you can probably buy proof sets currently at or just below bid) is probably true, but not only do you misrepresent the reality of the dealer pricing, but you poorly characterise dealers as people who buy at $3 and sell at $12-15.
Go with the silver. Buy the most expensive ones first since there is a good chance that you'll never be able to buy them as cheap as they are now in future years.
Well, I guess I mostly just want to collect all the 's' mint marks, but if I can make money doing it, then that's nice too. I know the occasional set has appreciated post release ('99 silver), but I haven't seen any reliable data indicating either the proof or the standard are good investments. If that's the case, why not stick to standard?
the silver proofs might not gain in value numismaticaly, certainlynot like the 1999 set, BUT it has silver.. its a sorta 2 fold way to collect. it could gain in value numismaticaly AND/OR because of its bullion. standars sets could fall just due to supply and demand, but Silver sets will always be worth at least bullion.
I collect the proof sets simply to have a set of each year. If you're looking for a good investment I'd steer away from proof sets all together
In the interest of answering my own question, I pulled the cost data from the Red Book, and value data from the internet to determine which was the better investment. Beginning in 1992, if you had bought the silver proof sets, you'd have spent a total of $420, and have $946 to show for it, a 9.6% annualized return. If you had instead bought the standard, you'd have spent $245, and would have $469 in value, a 7.4% return. Although this difference is meaningful, and in favor of silver, since the state quarters were released, the silver have underperformed the standard. Eh - I'll probably buy both.
