Mint Sets & Proof Sets for DAYS!

I'm one of the few who really like the mint PROOF sets. Since you got them for free......you are already ahead of the game. The mint sets are a little different. I only own 1, and I understand your feeling about just breaking them out for pocket change.....But there are those who might want them at a premium. You would have to check eBay for completed listings to find that out. I would just keep them all together for now.....and research them as time allows. Proof sets are cool. Not worth what you pay for them.....but you paid nothing so you are ahead. You are young, it doesn't cost you anything to keep them , and who knows.... as fluid as the coin market is, they could be worth big bucks 20 or 30 years from now when you are thinking about retirement. in 2051 a 1978 proof or uncirculated set will be 73 years old. 73 years ago was 1948. what are 1948 uncirculated and proof coins going for now?

 

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BTW I just looked and 1948 D mint sets are selling for around $115.

 

From your comments it appears you don't really have an interest in the sets but, other people do. Breaking up mint sets is a fast way to loose money on the coins. The proof sets also have some value. If you just want to turn them into cash many dealers will buy them for more then face value as long as the packaging is in good shape. They resell them to dealers that sell them on the Home Shopping Network. The other thing you could do is sell them on eBay but, it appear you just want to dump them so a local dealer is your best option. However, what ever you do don't tell your grandmother you sold her collection right after she gave it to you. That is very disrespectful to her.

 

That’s what I’m asking in the first place though.

I was asking if there are any coins I should look for in these sets that someone might want.

Or if all of them are just worth face value.

 

They are worth more as long as you leave them in their mint packaging. The mint sets are only worth face value if you cut them out. Don't even think about breaking coins out of the proof sets. You will loose money doing that. Modern proof sets are valued if sold complete.

 

Yes there could be good coins in the sets. No S proofs. Nickels with full steps in mint sets. Errors. If you have no interest in coins and at least look at each coin in each set, then just sell them. I have all of the proof sets from 1955 to 1998. And most of the mint sets from 1962 to the 1980s. I picked this one up for just above face value and looked closely and it is a strike through on the face of Lincoln and still is in the original mint package from 20 years ago! So you just never know. It might not be very valuable, but I think of the terrible things that happened on 9/11/2001 and wonder if the mint workers were distracted the day this was minted and it got through qaqc? I know I was very distracted at work that day.

 

You're obviously entitled to do whatever you'd like with your property. I have a hoard of 1970's-2010's proof and mint sets. Just like your granny. The difference is, I paid for mine. I like mine.

Lets say you break out every coin you're thinking of using as pocket change. Can you give me an estimate of how much pocket change you'll have? $300? $400? $500?

Fortunately for me I guess, any figure I just listed, even if it's $1,000 in change, won't change my lifestyle one iota. I would rather give those sets (that I have too) to my grandkids as they get older. When their interests can possibly be molded into hobbies that may interest them as they grow.

As a matter of fact my grandson is turning 5 in two weeks. Just last week coincidentally, before your thread was posted, I happened to give him a proof set from 1988. Just a random year I picked out of the stash. His mother, my DIL, said wow, that's so nice. I'll put it in the safe for him. I asked her to please let him keep it in his room to look at and play with. Let his interest in it become inquisitive. She said, 'he'll open it up'. I said, he can try. He probably won't be able to, but if he can, it's worth probably $4-$5. No big deal. It's worth more to me to see him touch it and hold it than to put it out of sight and out of reach.

I've given proof sets and mint sets from these same years to nephews and nieces over the holidays. People are intrigued by them. They can help others enter the hobby cheaply, and through nothing more than research into the gift I've bestowed upon them.

Going out to eat? Leave one of these proof sets on the table as part of a tip. These sets are more valuable than the intrinsic value of the coins themselves. Your grandmother specifically gave those sets to you because she saw in you exactly what she was herself, a collector. Not necessarily to save them forever, but maybe to be the go-between for someone who knows nothing about coins to someone who might be able to have their interest piqued by an unknowing, unsuspecting, stranger who was thoughtful and generous enough to share something more than a 'Hallmark' card. This makes it more personal.

So yes, @Gam3rBlake we see things about coin collecting very differently. My collection might not be worth millions in cash, but it's priceless if I can be an ambassador of goodwill to the hobby.

 

A bit off topic....
I visited a nursing home 2 years ago. To this day (and probably forever), I'll never forget how depressing it was. Seniors in wheelchairs in the game room made to throw balls at each other for so-called recreation. I put myself in their place and felt an urge to scream. Then I just wanted to escape. Whatever ails your grandma, I hope she'll get better and can return home. If she does, it'll be nice if those mint sets are still there. There's no place like home.

 

No, it isn't. As mint sets and proof sets, they have some collector value, but you might determine that the differential isn't worth the work. Ask a local coin shop if they have any interest.

 

Alright I’ll try that. Thanks!

 

Sadly she’s 90 years old and last year had her spleen removed after a fall.

Plus after my grandpa died and her daughter died of a brain aneurysm I feel like she lost the will to live and is becoming depressed.

We do visit her every single day though for a couple of hours to cheer her up.

 

Fair enough.

If they had the potential to increase in value over the years I would definitely keep them.


But from what I’ve been told there are SO many out there that they’ll never be worth more than the face value of the coins themselves.

Im definitely keeping the silver ones for sure!

 

Keep the Olympic. Keep them for you

 

It’s not that I don’t have interest in coins.

I am a coin collector myself.

I just don’t want to hold onto coins if they’ll never ever be worth more than the face value on the coin even in numismatic value.

If you think about it would you collect common pocket change? Probably not because it’s only worth face value and collectors don’t want it.

That’s what I’m saying. If these have potential future value to collectors I’ll definitely save them.

But if they’re just pocket change I might as well sell them to a dealer.

 

Oh yeah I’m definitely saving ALL the silver coins.

I think the Olympic ones are 90% too!

But they might be 40% so I’m not sure.

Either way I am definitely keeping the silver stuff since it’s worth more than face value and it’s not just “pocket change”.

 

There IS VALUE in bringing others into the hobby. You are being incredibly short sighted in your interpretation of value. The $.91 of coins in a proof set is absolutely less than the $2 or $3 or $4 you can get just keeping the set together. Breaking the coins out for pocket change just makes no sense whatsoever. My post above went into the details. I won't go there again.

 

Aaaahhhh, now that's ok. You've made a move towards keeping the sets intact as opposed to breaking them open to make everything pocket change. Even if you sell the sets for $2, it's more than the pocket change and keeps the integrity of the set together. I can easily get on board with that. My disdain was totally for your statement about breaking them open.

 

I was only asking if I should break them open IF they were not worth anything extra as a set than opened up.

Even if they’re only worth $1 more as a set than individually I would keep them as a set.

Here is everything I have. Doubles have been stacked on top of each other to save space.

 

I know what you mean. My grandmother that I was very close with spent the last 8 years of her life in bed in a nursing home. Her mind was perfect but, her body gave out. We would go visit her every Sunday. After a while I could almost feel a person was about to die just by looking at their face. Last year my father was in and out of a nursing home for almost a year. When he was home I had to help him everyday to get him out of bed and in bed. Even though I brought in help for him there were days I was at his house 4 times a day. The sad part was with Covid is I couldn't visit him when he was in the hospital or nursing home. He died on 12-30-2020 just short of turning 95. My mother is still at home and is 93 but failing. The worst part of the year was my aunt that was almost 95 died in October so I had to tell my mother her sister died in October and then tell her my father died on Dec. 30th. I thank God my father was home when I had to tell her sister died. Oh I almost forgot my father's younger sister (92) died Jan.2, 2020. Three in one year. My in laws are both still alive but their not well either (91 & 88). Hopefully, I get a break for year but, I doubt. Bottom line treat the old folks well. I also advise if there is something you would like to know about them ask them before it's to late. Once their gone their story is gone too. There is a lot they tell you if only you ask. Sorry about the book I just wrote but, it's so important ask those hard questions.

 

They are not common pocket change. Granted they maybe common but they are all uncirculated or proof which are definitely not pocket change. So numismatic value might be limited, but they are all likely over face. Again if you don't value them as an inheritance, then it sounds like you have made your decision. You must be a very novice US Coin collector if you are asking about future value of mint and proof sets here. The cost to you is zero except to store them. Will you make more money selling them in the future than now? Depends. I don't judge you as everyone has different goals and interests in the coin collecting world. I know what I would do. I will say one last thing and that is we are but custodians of these objects during our short time on earth. I believe we should do no harm but preserve these sets for future generations with some exceptions for obvious problem coins. Sell them intact or keep them intact. But that is just my opinion and yours likely varies.