One thing I have a lot of are uncirculated mint / mint proof sets from the 1970's through mid-2000's (found one 1964, think I have a '68 or '69 as well). Also have a bunch of Prestige Proof sets from 86 - 1994. I'm working on a full list of exactly what I have, but I easily have over 200 sets total, so it's time consuming. I'm personally not a big fan of keeping the proof sets, they're just not my thing, and was considering selling them off en masse. However, I saw a thread about proof sets the other day which made me think to ask the question - are there any coins within those sets that might be worth breaking out and keeping as part of my collection, and then getting rid of the rest? The only thing I know about for sure is the worth of the silver proof sets, I have a few from the years, and a bunch of the 1999 proof sets already set aside for keeping. Everything else is on the chopping block. My current collecting mindset is for "unique or valuable" things, meaning obviously things that are worth something significant over face value or possiblly that will appreciate over time, or something that is special in it's own right - an error, low mintage, hard to find date, etc. I'm not very big on sequential collections, i.e. all state quarters, etc. I have no idea where/how to start working through this except for here... Pictures of anything and everything can be done if asked, I just don't want to spam a ton of them for no reason here.
Before you break any of those sets open I'd be interested in the Prestige Proof sets. What else do you have sets w/ silver in them that you have multiples of?
You might find that with a mindset like this, you'll have more of an "accumulation," rather than a "collection." Now, everybody should collect what they want, and I know I have no say. Part of my stuff would be considered an "accumulation." But there seems to be more of a sense of accomplishment after filling a hole in a series, a type set, or something like that.
I can agree with the different terminology. For me the possible collection combinations seem to be too large for me to know I'd keep enough interest in them to complete the majority. I could see myself saying "ok, only D mint marks, decade of the 90's", but then I'd see something out of that range, now it's expanded to D and P mint marks, 90's and 2000's, etc, and ever growing because I know I'm never happy...
Most of the sets I have beyond Prestige are standard mint, post-silver era as I believe it was 1964 where they diverged from the gold standard (am I right on that?). BTW - what about the 1996 set makes it worth so much more than the others? Most of them are retail between $35-50, but that one is going for over $250 in most places. I have I think 5 1999 silver sets, but I have to check exactly what other dates I have which are the silver sets. Most of the other silver I have is ASE proofs/bullion. I like my silver as well, but I'm open to a swap or something with some of the extras. I have the following Prestige sets: Year qty [TD="align: right"]1996[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1995[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1994[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1993[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1992[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1991[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1990[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1989[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1988[/TD] [TD="align: right"]3[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1987[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD] [TD="align: right"]1986[/TD] [TD="align: right"]2[/TD]
I'll bump this up. I've found multiple 1992 silver proof sets, as well as 1998 regular proof and "premier" proof (don't know what the difference is yet). Still trying to lay them all out and get a full list of years.
Do any of the mint sets have coins that stand out as superior in quality? If so, it may be worth your while to cut out and submit them for grading. If lucky you could hit the jackpot on a high grade Ike, Kennedy, etc. If you think you have any MS66 or even certain MS65 Ikes you could make some money - way beyond what the sets sell for, which is about 8 bucks. I'm sure people here would be interested in seeing them for sale on the forum. I'd break them up, however, with maybe a date run on the less valuable sets like a '73 to '78 mint set (so someone can get all the Ikes at once), or by the decade, or whatever. Maybe the prestige sets seperately if you have the time for all the packaging. Good luck - hope to see them on the forum.
That's the thought I was aiming for... I'm sure there's some of them that could end up worth more than the $5-8 for the sets. My problem is that I really am not up to speed yet on which years/coins might have a good single value to start with. I'm not adverse to spending time looking through this, it will be a great experience to do with my older daughter, but obviously with a few hundred sets to go through I'd rather start with those that might have a better shot at value first. Oh, and here's some IKE's by request (uncirculated, not proof):
Only difference between the regular and premier proof sets was a fancier holder. (And I don't mean the Prestige proof sets, they had a silver commemorative in them and an even fancier holder). You never hear much about the premier sets, they didn't make them very long and never really advertised them. Correction, the premier sets was a SILVER proof set in a fancier case.
