1961 US Mint Set

I have this 1961 Philadelphia mint set. My understanding is that the mint takes regular coins meant for circulation and packages them in a set. Some of them are in better condition than others. This particular set is really nice, the nickles is full steps and the dime is full bands. There are very few Jefferson Nickles that are graded more MS 65. So if I were to remove the coins from the set and submit for grading does it matter that they came from a mint set? Probably a dumb question but I just wanted to see.

 

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Most of the higher graded coins do come from mint sets, but I would check at least Ebay to see what these coins graded are selling at. A mint set sent in for grading should be at minimum a MS 60, but that doesn't mean you recover the expenses for the mailing and grading. Hard to tell from the picture, but I don't think anything special here. Maybe there is and I just don't know it. The dime, quarter, and half dollar are 90% silver.

 

That is a Proof set, not a Mint Set. One would expect that Proofs would be about nice as the mint could do at that time. That was not always the case, the odds are higher than the coins will be better.

I suppose that I should define the terms, for those who not familiar. Except for a brief period, well after the 1960s, Mint Sets are made of run of the mill coins that mint made for circulation. Proof coins are made from specially polished planchets and dies. The coins are struck with greater force and at a slower rate. The resulting coins have mirrored surfaces and should have better design details.

 

As mentioned above, those are proofs. Since you mention the nickel, you'll see that it would have to grade PR69 to be worth being professionally graded:
https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1961-5c/4193
And even so, if you look at the auction results, nobody's getting 135 bucks for these.
Do you normally use NGC, PCGS, or ANACS?

 

I would normally use PCGS. I'm not going to have it graded since it is a proof. I learned here that the dates matter as far as proofs or uncirculated regular circulation coins that are in coin sets from the mint. I appreciate the info that you gave me.

 

No. Mint sets were issued in 1961. The date has nothing to do with it. I can't show you a mint set from the era because I don't collect them.

If you are confused, you might buy a Red Book and check it out. It has all the information you need so far as when Proof and Mint sets were issued.

 

Much appreciated

 

I didn't pay enough attention here, I thought he had half of a mint set.

 

...and then there are SMS's...

 

Please don’t confuse the issue. There were very rare SMS coins in 1964 and lots of them from 1965 to ‘67, before 1961. I think the person who wrote OP is just getting started. Let’s help him out.

 

Darn it. I thought only 82 and 83 were the missing mint sets. Learn something every day. So I’m guessing there isn’t any 61D proof sets. Thanks. Red book does say no 1950 mint sets

 

I got to tell my brother his 1950 set is a proof. His birth year. Thinking he already knows that. I’ll check

 

There are no D proof sets for any year.

 

I looked this up today while my wife was buying knitting supplies at Hobby Lobby.

In the Coin Supply area they had the spiral bound 2023 Red Book, and I was checking the prices listed for SMS sets. The book only lists 3 years for SMS: 1965, 1966 and 1967. Their values listed were $15, $14 and $15 respectively.

There is a paragraph about 1964 Special Strikes…saying there are some Mint Set coins that emulate proof condition that are considered rare, and that it is unknown how they were produced nor how they made it out of the Mint.
(The previous sentence is almost verbatim from the Red Book paragraph, from pg. 362 or so, in the “Proof and Mint Set Section”.

I was actually nearly astounded by the coincidence of me reading that there today and then finding this post tonight…Spark. @johnmilton

 

Superloop, since you mention that your Jeff nickel and Roosie dime are full steps and bands respectively, I'd suggest posting a picture of the reverse side of your proof set. Preferably a full size closeup of the reverse of each of those coins. Full steps and bands can certainly influence recommendations about sending them in for grading.

 

…except in this case it is not applicable. @johnmilton and @Lon Chaney have both promulgated that this is a proof set, and I agree with them.

…And because they are PF and not MS, they dang sure better have full steps and full bands!

Consequently, TPGs will treat them as normal proof coins…imo…Spark

 

It is without question a Proof set. A quick look at Ebay shows that mint sets of that era had a blue or red border depending on the mint. As far as I know there is no single proof set grading for PCGS but honestly ? unless you are sure of getting a high grade original packaging is cool

 

Yes, only MS coins are eligible for FS, FSB, all that stuff. Proof coins are not granted those designations.