I swear, the 1979 proof set is the hardest to crack open proof set out there. I think it is encased in plexiglass. After normal moderate attempts at opening it, I took the equivalent of a hammer and chisel to it which failed. The next effort involved bending it over a corner of a table, which result in half of the set coming open, and a 2 inch cut on my hand. I'm licking my wounds right now...later I'll muster my strength and try to finish opening up the other half. I've opened a few proof sets before and never had any trouble like this one. I pretty much just had to drop the 2007 proof set to get it open. I guess they just don't make em like they used to.
Lol, that's funny. I personally like to keep them in the set, saves a whole lot of hassle. Maybe you should try intimadating it by barking at it like a dog, might get it to open easier. Then after that your wife or someone might call the men in the white coats to get you. LOL. Phoenix
Man, I'd be way too worried about scratching any coins, even though I generally dislike the packaging as well. Good luck.
Do not go gently into that good night. RAGE, RAGE against the dying light. That set just hung on for dear life.
Too late to say "Be careful". I often use a utility knife "scraper" and try to slowly, and carefully work my way around the sealed seam until I can get a flat head screw driver into the cut. It is a must to be careful and take your time.
The '68 can be a bear too! They used a hammer to put some of the nickels in and it almost takes dynamite to get them out. Wear safety glasses since shards can fly at very high speed.
OMG! Dude i'm with you on that. At the Long Beach show this last Sept. I was sitting at the PCGS booth cutting myself to bits trying to crack that sucker open! Man what a pain!I'm sure I looked like a total idiot too! But a couple weeks ago my labor paid off as I got word the whole set graded PF69, so I guess it was worth it! I have 2 more of them and all three are really good looking coins! Heavy DC on all of them!
well I finally got it open. I still don't understand why it was so hard. the 1980 and 1981 sets opened so much easier.
All I can think of is the movie "Child's Play" with Chuckie! That set is going to come back on you -ESPECIALLY SINCE IT'S HALLOWEEN! LOOK OUT!!!!!
Take a look at the '79 case and compare it to the cases for '80 & '81 - there is one major difference. The cases used on the '79 set had been made to hold the Eisenhower dollar, not the SBA. Thus they had to alter the case, and this made it harder for those cases to come apart. Of course there is another possibility, perhaps the particular set you had had already been opened once by a previous owner and then re-sealed with glue once they had removed the coins they wanted and replaced them.
lol...fuel the fire!! No that set was a ***** to open! Of coarse I had to do it at a show, at the PCGS booth with only my hands and my trusty key chain(which amounted to a kwikset key that I had no clue went to what lock)
i thought proof sets were plastic? i have a 1964 set, and it is plastic that looks like you could cut through with a pair of siccorrs.
yeah they really should just plate the hull of the space shuttle with 1979 proof sets, no heat shield needed. I'm so happy that most of the other years aren't near as hard to open. I'd probably quit coin collecting if it was otherwise.
