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Message:: [QUOTE="bikergeek, post: 25500446, member: 112428"]Fair question! I think of it kinda like auto parts. If you had a car that cost $25k, but then tried to go buy the individual parts that make up that car - you'd pay a lot more. Individual handling adds (whether it's someone who busted the coin out of its plastic set and sold it raw, or sent it in to a grading company like PCGS, CACG, or NGC, it had individual attention). But then, the finest individual coins from multiple proof sets can be assembled for someone who really wants a top-pop set. Modern proof coins tend to be common and not hold much value. Oodles of them sell now for less than what the mint originally charged for them. (Ask me how I know this sad fact). So, what makes individual modern proof coins more valuable? 1. Errors (like "no-S mintmark" varieties)2. Great beauty - for a coin that managed to tone nicely (often busted out of its case in the first place)3. High grade - which is "conditional rarity." There may be a ton of PR-63s (and that's a grade that nobody would covet), but not so many PR-70. Some folks want the best and pay up for it. There can be a single coin that is much better than its brethren in a specific set.4. Actual scarcity - a year that produced fewer sets overall is valued higher (e.g. 2012), whether it be as a set or as individual coins.5. For graded coins, they can have additional descriptors applied like "DCAM" for Deep Cameo that differentiate them from the population. Proof sets aren't generally a great investment, although they are beautiful. The older sets, however, can be a good investment. If you consider the 1936-1942 run of proofs, they hold up their (considerable) values, especially the scarce 1936 coins.[/QUOTE]

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