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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Fallguy, post: 2888010, member: 84739&quot;]I certainly agree with what most everyone has said, especially regarding the authenticity of apparently &quot;unopened&quot; sets from 1981 and prior. As noted, the only way you can be sure that they are valid is if the envelopes (which of course you wouldn&#039;t be able to see) are in the sealed and postmarked mailers as they were sent from the US Mint.</p><p><br /></p><p>However, I have to smile at the &quot;why would anyone . . .&quot; type of responses; which of course begs the question, &quot;Why does one collect anything?&quot;. There&#039;s probably no simple or single answer, it might be because they are &quot;compulsive shoppers and obsessive hoarders&quot;, or maybe it&#039;s because they just like it, enjoy discovering things and find it fun. Of course one might be an investor or speculator, but in that case, they certainly are not &quot;Collectors&quot;. Methinks that one of the primary drivers is to have something that no one, or few others have. Case in point . . . US Mint Proof and Mint sets.</p><p><br /></p><p>While I collect many types of US coins, the real darlings of my overall collection are my US Proof and Mint sets. Why? Because I have every Proof set struck since the Mint began reproducing them in 1950 AND every Mint set that the Mint has made, starting in 1947 . . . and all in their OGP including protective outer envelopes. Certainly most of the earlier years, as I mentioned above, are not &quot;unopened&quot;, some may be and I know that some definitely are as they are still contained within the sealed original mailer as sent from the Mint. As I have many duplicates from the mid 50s onward, I&#039;m sure that some sellers have slipped some by me, like the &quot;sealed&quot; 1970 Mint set that I acquired early on . . . it didn&#039;t occur to me at the time as to how they would have known that it contained the &quot;Small Date&quot; variety (as noted on the envelope) if they hadn&#039;t already opened it!</p><p><br /></p><p>I&#039;ve gotten wiser with time and as I now only concentrate on truly &quot;unopened&quot; sets, I either purchase them through private parties, or as someone mentioned, buy in bulk sealed Mint mailed boxes on websites, though buying 5 to 20 units at a time does seem a little OCD<img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /><img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie1" alt=":)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />. Will I ever open them? No, I decided sometime ago that my total coin collection, including neigh onto 100,000 Wheatback Lincolns, will be going to my youngest and last Granddaughter; let her have the thrill of potential discovery . . . a nice legacy to leave, I think.</p><p><br /></p><p>So, &quot;why would anyone&quot;, well obviously many reasons. But think of it, I and at some point my granddaughter will have, in terms of Proof sets, something that no more than 51,000 other persons could have, and as for the Mint sets, at most there are only 5,100 others that can match it. BTW, my oldest unopened set is a 1954 Boxed Proof set. I&#039;m darn sure that it is &quot;unopened&quot; because I also have an opened 1954 and the boxes and tape are identical but there is absolutely no evidence that the box or tape on the unopened one has ever been tampered with in any way. One note, one of the commenters opined that coins should be removed from the old cellophane wrappers and I couldn&#039;t agree more . . . most of the coins in the opened 54 box (still stapled in the original cellophane) are toned a nasty black and are as ugly as hell. What do the coins in the unopened 54 box look like . . . well that&#039;s for another generation to discover!</p><p><br /></p><p>Semper Fidelis to All[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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