hi, i am starting to get into the annual sets the mint puts out and am confused. it seems that there are 3 different types: uncirculated, proof, silver proof. have there always been 3 different types of sets? i'm assuming that, say, the 1960 silver proof set was the same as the regular proof set since there was silver in the coins anyway- true? when someone lists a "proof" set on ebay from 1964, do they mean "uncirculated?" so much confusion. if i wanted to put together a full run, which years would have what sets? which are easier to come by? where can i find a price guide for each? thanks in advance for your help. -david
Good questions, yes it does seem confusing. You are correct in your example of a 1960 proof set, the coins were silver, thus no seperate silver proof set. I'm going to recommend you look at picking up a copy of "A Guide Book of United States Coins" by RS Yeoman, available anywhere, or even at a local library. The section on proof sets will help shed light on what years have the "clad" proof sets, and what years "silver" proof sets were produced. (Silver sets were started in 1992) Pricing guides are only guides, for example, don't pay too much attention to the pricing in the book recommended above. I recommend doing searches on completed eBay listings, or at auction sites like ha.com. However you decide to approach collecting proof sets, you will have a lot of choices to consider. Have fun..:smile
Amazon has Lange and Bowers book "A guide book of modern US Proof Coin sets which has a price guide. I don't do proof sets, but Bowers is always a well written book. Jim
Argghhhh. Not too many simple answers here... There have been a lot of different kinds of mint and proof sets issued by the mint for well over 100 years and many different privately produced unc and mint sets. A complete answer would require a great deal of expertise. Suffice to say the mint has made a proof set most years since 1936 though they've made some special proof sets and premeir proof sets. During the '65 to '67 years the proof set wasa called an SMS (special mint set) and some people believe these are more like a mint set. Generally only the mint makes proof sets and there isn't a lot of confusion though the coins can be repackaged. Mint sets have been packaged by the mint since 1947 and there's a great deal more chance for confusion here. All the mint sets don't contain all the coins for a given year. There have been numerous other kinds of mint sets like the souvenir sets made from '71- '98 and premier sets made in the '90's. There have also been privately made sets though most of these are 1982 to 1986. It might be easier to answer more specific questions. The Redbook lists most of these though only the '82 and '83 souvenir sets.
