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 Replies: 32 / Views: 2,156 |
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Valued Member
United States
84 Posts |
On a road trip to Upstate New York, I found this 1967 SMS which seemed like a fair price. I have since learned on the CCF site that 1967 was the last and lowest produced issue of the sets.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
 United States
24875 Posts |
Nice find, Old Codger NJ. These sets generally sell for $15 - $20, or did before the price of silver went up. The half has a melt value of $7.25, so you got a great deal.
Inordinately fascinated by bits of metal with strange markings and figures
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Valued Member
 United States
84 Posts |
Thanks, Hondo. The coins are in beautiful condition as well.. I read that people open them to sell individually, but I like the set.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
I've always said they are so unpopular because most proof set collectors consider them mint sets and mint set collectors consider them proof sets. Well I'm a mint set collector and in my opinion a few of the SMS coins are actually proofs and most were struck to proof standards but only one time.
I consider them an excellent value though. No matter what you call them if you want premium quality of these dates you have little or no choice but to get an SMS coin. There are all manner of coins in these sets that can not be found elsewhere yet still are scarce like FS nickels and FT dimes. The number of special coins is staggering so one or another is frequently encountered. There's something interesting in every eighth or tenth set including things like MS-69+ 1966 quarters. These are remarkable coins and completely different than other '66 quarters. And most sets have at least two coins that are better than their counterpart from BU rolls.
The remarkable thing is that despite huge attrition they are much more common than BU roll coins.
The sets are grossly underappreciated and large percentages of the coins surviving in these sets are ruined. It's about 25% that can't be cleaned up and another 35% that should be cleaned up.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Valued Member
United States
84 Posts |
Cladking, how are the coins in these sets ruined? Does the plastic case react somehow to harm them?
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
10470 Posts |
I don't even pay attention to them but for $10 I'd buy them all day long.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2520 Posts |
No doubt with them being around for nearly 60 years, a large amount of them have been exposed to improper storage....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
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Cladking, how are the coins in these sets ruined? Does the plastic case react somehow to harm them? I don't really know but the '65 in the pliofilm is the worst so it's probably the plastic. The '66 and '67 are more complex but I suspect there is some involvement with the plastic. Apparently all three years have something left on most of the coins and this might be the biggest part of the problem. A significant minority of the '66 and '67 sets are unaffected or have only only one or two coins bad. Most SMS coins can be saved. About 25% of '65 and 15 to 20% of the others are toast. It's tough to say how many survive but they sure aren't common like they used to be. Even though nobody likes them there's still a heavy drain on them because they are the nicest coins for the dates. Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
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No doubt with them being around for nearly 60 years, a large amount of them have been exposed to improper storage.... Yes. Even a pristine set can go bad pretty fast if its temperature often dips even slightly below the dewpoint. Basement, attic, barn, or garage storage can be hard on them. Even sitting on a loading dock and truck travel can be rough. These coins are unloved so not many sit in safety deposit boxes or temperature controlled environments. They're more likely to be shoved in a closet and forgotten. Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
73575 Posts |
Very nice set!  Errers and Varietys.
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Valued Member
United States
84 Posts |
Hearing that storage problem, I feel lucky to find these in such good condition.
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
Excellent find! |
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Moderator
United States
94614 Posts |
I like my 66 and 67 SMS sets, I was lucky enough to find mine way back in the early 1980s and they still look very nice and clean after all these years.   |
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Moderator
United States
187446 Posts |
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they still look very nice and clean after all these years. Very nice! Mine look empty. The coins were shifted to Dansco albums.  |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
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I like my 66 and 67 SMS sets, I was lucky enough to find mine way back in the early 1980s and they still look very nice and clean after all these years. Very nice. It looks like the obverse of the '67 half is starting to tarnish. At this stage it's no problem since a short soak in isopropyl or acetone should stabilize it. It's mostly advanced cases and ones that look like they might have had contaminants left on them that can't be reclaimed. A great number of the coins have ended up being recycled or tarnished and then lost in circulation. Time has ground these coins down quite a lot by many different processes. Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Moderator
United States
94614 Posts |
I do think it is time to get better images of these now that I have learned a thing or 2 about coin photography..
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Replies: 32 / Views: 2,156 |
Posted 11/09/2025 5:13 pm
