I have a question concerning 'un-opened' proof or mint sets. I've seen them many times on Ebay and I have also seen what appear to be unsealed empty envelopes (sold to someone to replace a torn or poor condition envelope). This brings me to my questions: How can someone be sure they are truly un-opened and how would someone have access to unsealed mint envelopes?
Good Question. We have seen these "Minnesota Find" boxes of unopened sets in CW and hawked by the TV hucksters over the last year. Like you, I have seen the new condition Proof set envelopes on Ebay, to "freshen up" your sets. I had been thinking of buying some of those "unopened" 1950`s Proof sets UNTIL I saw the new empty envelopes on Ebay. There is just no way to tell, and I have decided to stay away them. There is an apparent past business connection with the 3 biggest hawkers of the sets in CW and on TV. Those of you that follow such things know the three I am talking about. I personally would stay away from them. JMHO
With the quality of today's home PCs and printers, it is easy to create "fresh" mint envelopes. I would never buy any "unopened" or "unsearched" items. Steve
a good rule of thumb is if it is lightly sealed is is probably real.Most of the time sets were originally lightly selaed so if you have a set that is heavily sealed probably not real
