What Does 50's Mint Set Packaging Look Like?

Those coins look beautifully preserved Susuman. The picture I posted is not of my coins, but a picture I found online. I have not seen an early proof set in original packaging in person. The ones I have seen firsthand were always in capitol plastics holders. Thanks for sharing.

Proof sets have not been offered since first days of the nation. Individual "specimen" or "master coins" were made although those are a controversial issue among some experts. Some experts debate on whether or not they should be called "Proofs." The grading services say no and use the "specimen" (SP) label.

The Philadelphia Mint was making Proof sets before 1836. The King of Siam Proof set, which contains an 1804 dollar, was made in 1834 and was one of the first compete sets, if not the first. It was made for diplomatic purposes, not for collectors.

The Philadelphia Mint started to offer Proof sets on a regular basis starting in 1858. The end of the large cent started a collector boom in The United States in 1857. Usually the sets were offered in pieces with the copper coins in one group, the silver coins in another and gold coins in a third elite group. Although the mint only charged a few dollars over face value for the gold coins, the mintages were very low because of the high face value (for the time) involved. For example a gold Proof set in the 1870s would have contained a $1, $2.50, $3, $5, $10 and $20 gold coins for a total of $41.50. The price was a little less than $45, but that would have represented almost two month's wages for many people.

Proof set mintage ended circa 1915 due to collector disinterest. Although the artists of the time thought that Matte Proofs showed their artwork to its best advantage, the collects thought that they were ugly. Artists, on the other hand, viewed the brilliant Proofs has "garish."

There was sporadic Proof coin production from the mid teens to the mid thirties. In 1936 Proof set production resumed and in continued until 1942 when World War II caused another suspension. Proof sets were offered again in 1950 and has continued to the present day except for the 1965 to '67 period when the mint offered Special Mint Sets. The reason for that dated from coin shortage that some politicians blamed on coin collectors at the time. The real issue was inadequate mint capacity and an increase in the price of silver bullion which would make the use of that metal in everyday coinage impractical.

I am not sure that the type of Proof set boxes that were used in the 1950s were used in 1942. I once met a veteran collector who had all of the sets from 1936 to 1942 in those boxes, but I'm not sure that those coins CAME in those containers.

Back in the 1970s a married couple of collectors from New Jersey gave me this box after they saw that I had a 1942 Proof set. They told that this had been a box in which 1942 Proof coins had been shipped. I've posted this picture a couple of times on the Web and have been told that is an accurate statement.

Here is a view of a 1949 Mint Set with the mailing envelope. The sents from 1947 to 1958 were housed in cardboard and paper holders. The holders were green in all years except 1957 when they were pink.

The sets contained two examples of each coin that was issued in the year. The San Francisco holder in this picture does not have any quarters because none were minted.

Many coins in these sets have been switched. Some coins from these sets are high grade and have been slabbed. Frequently substitute coins are put in the sets to take their place. We can get into a debate about that if you like.

billjones, you are absolutely correct. Below is a photo of the mailing envelope of the 1947 mint set I posted on another thread. I blanked out the addressee and some other information because they are my own family members. I don't want that posted because I don't want a target on my back. The remainder of the address is a big commercial building in Detroit. I don't think that there is much anybody can do with that.