How to tell 1957-P Proof Set from 1957-P Mint pack

After reading the "Proof Coins and Sets" section of the 2010 RedBook , I am confused.

If almost all proof sets were minted at Philadelphia prior to 1968 and they were distributed in flat packs just like the uncirculated P-D sets , how can you tell them apart.

It seems that the proof sets minted at Philadelphia from 1936 to 1968 were supposed to be of the "Brilliant ,Mirror Like surface" and not Frosted ( not cameo ).

If the original mint envelope and insert card is missing and all you have is the "P" set in its original cello package , how can you tell Proof from Mint specifically for the years 1955-P through 1963-P ?

 

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A proof coin will look so much different compared with a business strike coin. Here is an image of both side by side to compare with.

 

They were sold in different packaging with different numbers of coins and the coins look nothing like one another.

 

The Proof Set holds proof coins and the Mint Sets hold uncirculated business strike coins. You should be able to easily tell the difference with a little experience. Why not drop by your local coin shop and compare proof coins to business strikes?

 

The mint sets, even back in the 50's I believe, contained 1 set from each mint, as compared to proof sets which contain 1 set of proof coins from Philadelphia. I think, though I haven't seen the mint set in a number of years, all the coins were in 1 sheet of the cello wrap on the mint sets.

 

Early mint coin sets (those produced before 1959) were housed in cardboard containers and included 2 examples of every denomination.

Beginning in 1959, the U.S. Mint switched its packaging format to cellophane packages, each striped with 2 brightly colored tape inserts on the top and bottom edges of these packages. Blue indicates coins struck at the Philadelphia mint, and red indicates coins struck at the Denver and San Francisco mints (in years when San Francisco struck circulating coinage).

Flat pack cellophane Proof sets from 1955 through 1964 all had a paper Philadelphia Mint emblem in the pack.

Hope this helps,

Happy Collecting

 

The US Mint Sets of 1947-1958 contained two coins per denomination per mint of issue. Therefore, there would be two 1957 cents, two 1957 nickels, two 1957 dimes, two 1957 quarters and two 1957 halves from Philadelphia and a similar number of coins from Denver. Each group of coins from a particular mint was placed into a single cardboard holder so that the P-mint cardboard had 10 coins placed into it (two of each denomination) and the D-mint cardboard also had 10 coins placed into it. The proof sets of 1957 came as a single mylar or cello sheet with one coin of each denomination placed within an individual compartment of the sheet and then heat sealed. The packaging was very different.

 

Thank you all for the input so far but I think I need to re-phrase my question so folks can understand what I am faced with.

I have a cello pack from Philadelphia dated 1959 , with no card , no envelope , no nothing else. The coins look very reflective , exactly as reflective as the uncirculated mint set that I have from 1963 that does contain all the accompanying literature and the Denver pack that lets me know that the 1963 is an uncirculated mint pack and not a Proof pack.

How to tell the 1959-P Proof from Uncirculated Mint ?

 

For 1959, the Mint Set from Philadelphia will have a blue stripe boarder.

The proof set for 1959 will not have any colored stripes, but will contain a paper Philadelphia Mint tag in one of the pockets.

 

Thank You !:hail:

that will be the method I will use.

 

Tom, I believe I stated that.

 

Thank you , your response did help me a lot with the pre-1959 sets.

The blue stripe and no Mint Marker inside versus the Mint Marker inside and NO blue stripe , makes it very easy for me.

 

1959 mint sets have a plastic token. The proofs have a metallic looking one sided badge. Also if it were a mint cello then it would be edged in blue or red depending on the mint.

Here is a 59 p mint set cello that i have. Notice the odd doubling on the token. Hope this helps you.

 

I had to upload this one, but for you no problem:smile.
If yours were a proof cello it would be packaged exactly like this in 1957.

 

More Examples

Thank You !

So the pack on the far left is still just a mint set and not a proof set despite the fact that it has no colored strip. Because it is a 1965 and there were no proof sets in 1965 , 1966 & 1967.

The partial red and blue packs in the middle both have copper cent like mint tokens inside stating clearly they are uncirculated mint sets.

The partial red pack to the far right has a mint token that clearly states it is an uncirculated mint set.

 

My pleasure. So which one is it that you have?

 

I hope they arrive this week and according to all the information that has been provided to me in this thread I can safely? say , according to the seller's photographs , they will all be proof sets from 1957-1963 (12 in total).

I will searching them for DDO's , DDR's & small dates. Worse case scenario they will all include 90% silver coins

 

Actually the one on the left is from a SMS. Special mint set. The blue plastic token will say special mint set right on it.

 

hi - i'd like to add, for me, the REAL question, is how to tell if the OLDER coins ever really came from original u.s. mint sets....

how would i be able to tell if the "ORIGINAL" (say from the early 40's or prior to 1955) coins had been removed and replaced with cleaned or "dipped" coins......

all proof "sets" prior to 1950 are virtually all in plastic "cases" these days - no original packing whatsoever.... so, as these are "hand" assembled - (by hands OTHER then official "u.s. mint" hands) unless you can somehow TRUST the seller - you don't really know what you're getting......

and while there's no denying a proof coin when you see one - the issue gets much more muddled when discussing actual MINT (uncirculated as opposed to proof) sets - many official "uncirculated" sets (prior to 1960) were shipped in cardboard with holes cut out to hold the coins (sorta like those old blue whitman folders we use today) again though - how does one tell if the coins in these sets, are "original" coins that were "originally" packaged by "official" u.s. mint employees? and does it really matter?

having all coins in the SAME "pilofilm" package, took the guess work out...that is, you KNEW, because of the packaging, at the very least, that all these coins
were "uncirculated" or MS 60....

when you buy someone elses, hand assembled "SET" - unless one is pretty well versed in grading themselves, they don't know what they're getting.....

if they're never going to sell the coins, it may not matter, but personally, i'd hate to buy what i think are uncirculated coins - die and leave them to somebody - only to have THAT person find out years later that the coins are really not worth much because - guess what - they're not "genuine" or they're kinda ruined, because they're been cleaned or dipped. etc.....

so here's the question - if i personally assemble one of each denomination from the phily & denver mints dated 1950 - i still don't have a "sanctioned", official 1950's P & D u.s. mint set - what i have, is a set of 1950's P & D coins - not a 1950's "u.s. mint set"

subtle - but still a big difference...... if all i want, is one coin from each denomination by date and mintmark, then there's no problem....
but if i want to collect official u.s. mint / proof "SETS"...then "houston.......

and the only reason i wanted the "official" sets, was because that's the ONLY way i know of to insure the coins are "real" and have not been altered / cleaned, dipped, etc.....but i'm NOT going to find that going back prior to 1955...

 

hi - can anyone tell me if these were actually packed by the mint this way, or is someone trying to pull a fast one? thanks!