I have started collecting early 1950s proof sets and would be interested in your thoughts on some questions I have. - I prefer getting coins in the cellophane and boxes (unopened if I can). Have any of you bought "proof" coins in capitol holders? How could you confirm a coin in a capitol holder set is really a proof? - Some of the coins I have in the cellophane look very nice and worth getting graded and slabbed. Should the coin be submitted in the cellophane and let the service cut it out so they know it is a proof? - I like having the sets in the original cellophane. But, I am concerned about them degrading further. Would you move them to holders as soon as possible? edited
Confirming that a given coin is indeed a Proof is almost always a simple matter of just looking at the coin. A Proof will have mirror fields, a business strike will not. A Proof will have sharp, squared rims, a business strike will not. So there is rarely a case where a coin cannot be positively identified as a Proof with just a glance at the coin. That said, yes there are some business strike coins that are proof-like, but even those are obviously not Proofs to anybody who knows coins. For those who don't know coins, well, a bit of experience goes a long way. And usually even a beginner collector can quickly learn to tell a Proof from a business strike pretty quickly just by viewing the coins, and viewing them in hand, that are already identified as such. But when buying the early Proof sets, Proofs from 1936-42 or 1950-54 - the only sets in cellophane and boxes, one does need to use a bit of caution. The boxes themselves are easily copied and manufactured even today. And they are also fraudulently sealed quite easily with ordinary brown packing tape. The cellophane sleeves that were used to hold the coins are often replaced with modern plastic sleeves because the cellophane sometimes becomes brittle, cracked, and even falls apart at times. And yes, I have even seen cases where the original coins in the sets were replaced coins of lesser quality and or replaced with business strikes. The point I am trying to make is that because of the values of these early Proof sets it is not uncommon for the unscrupulous to try and take advantage of the less knowledgeable. I collected original Mint and Proof sets for decades and I can tell you that I have seen just about every trick that you can imagine. Even some of the later sets that were originally packaged in pliofilm - the flat packs - even those have been copied with modern manufacturing methods and put together in an effort to fool buyers. So one would be wise to not buy these sets until they have acquired the necessary knowledge to correctly identify them by themselves, or, to only buy them from trusted and respected dealers.
To add a bit more...The cello packs are easily scratched and it's sometimes very hard to see any damage to the coins inside, especially if they were mistakenly dropped. On the TPG grading, most will not open from the containers and require you to place in flips. This, of course gets tricky as you may mishandle the coin or the coin may rub in the flip on the way to be graded, thereby lessening the grade/value. So be very careful in the handling of the coins prior to shipping and in packing for the journey. Also, know your grades and other conditions so you know what to expect in return once the coins are slabbed, ie., all Proof grades, cameo, deep cameo, ultra cameo, etc. There are low grade proofs, 63, 64, etc. with no cameo effects so do not disappoint yourself there either. As far as those that are in Capitol holders, unscrew them and inspect them yourself before you make a final decision to send away. Again, scratches may be on the holder or the coin. And lastly, if the old cello is deteriorating and you remove them, do NOT put them in flips. Use an archival holder that is free of chemicals that break down and further damage the coin after long term storage. Hope this helps a bit.
One comment, yes the TPGs do ask that you put submitted coins in flips. But they will accept them in original packaging. And they will charge you extra, for each coin, that they have to remove from that packaging. And the packaging will not be returned to you.
That happened on my first submission to ICG. But they were nice enough not to charge extra but did inform me of the practice. Got lucky I guess. But good to know they will do this because it might be better to send this way on occasion providing I can see no apparent defects through the packaging. Thanks.
