Seals: Mint Proof Set Packaging

To the Mints, presentation and packaging of proof sets is more of a motivation than permanent preservation of the coins in the package.

Mints around the World 50 to 100 years ago made proof coins that were not cameo details with polished fields. They were the just the best examples of what could be produced off the best quality dies and planchets to be used, as the standard to aspire to for the following business strikes.
No thought was given to their presentation and packaging and certainly there was zero motivation to market any of them.
That is why proofs made before about 1950 are so rare, and commonly less than 10 of a date or type were struck.

There are exceptions to this of course such as the British 1937 4-coin gold type set struck for the Coronation of George V1, when 5,501 sets were made for sale to the public.
These coins in less than FDC condition are considered common, and sell for less than 50% of the AGW for the Five Pounds gold coin for example, if in less than FDC condition.

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Move to current times.
Now cameo proofs sets with polished fields are produced in their millions of sets. for sale to the public.

Some mints permanently seal each proof coin in a set in an acrylic capsule that is ultrasonically sealed. The coin cannot be taken out of the capsule, without destroying it.
The Royal Australian Mint for example, has been doing this for some years, for their proof coin product. The individually encapsulated coins are then in an attractivly presented package.
This sort of sealing is considerably better than for slabbed coins, which are not necessarily in a completely airtight environment.

With the exception of the 1966 Proof sets the Australian proof Decimal coins were all sealed up until last year in a big rectangular slab and the coins survived the years rather well.
The New Decimal proof sets are issued in individual airtight capsules in a box.
The 1966 sets have not survived the years very well due to them just being sold in velvet lined boxes and have toned with cabinet friction and handling mark problems making them rather hard to find in top grades.

All in all the Royal Australian Mint has done a rather good job with its Proof set Issues

I buy mine directly from the Mint, so I am not complaining about the lack of seal, but you do make some good points.

I do not miss having to break apart the lenses though. Really.

But once you pop you cannot stop.

It took me a long time, at least ten years, to finally bring myself to breaking up my sets.

That was over twenty years ago now. No regrets.

Good call.

I've been buying two of each set each year with the idea of cracking one open for albums, but I still haven't broken down.

I just got done reading through this topic and now I'm not sure I should have.

What made me think, primarily, is Conder101's post. This morning when I woke up I was totally happy with all of the items I bought over the past year; now I have bad thoughts. I basically bought all the silver proof sets from 1998 to 2013 last year, and now I learn that it's possible that they could all be clad proof sets. I never knew until just now that coins could be taken out and put back into proof sets without any visible evidence. I had always thought that one had to break the plastic to get coins out of the Mint slabs.

It's sad to say, but the more I learn the less fun this hobby is for me.