Busting Open Mint Sets: What Would You Do?

Hello Archraz,

I'd recommend staying away from the Royal Canadian Mint junk. Coins that are proof, proof like, NBU, specimen sets from the R.C.M. are just a waist of money. They never go up in value and are not regarded as serious collector material by advanced collectors.
Look at purchasing "business" strikes, these are coins that were minted for the sole purpose of being in circulation as currency. Currently what's HOT are Elizabethan silver dollars. To find mintstate ones in MS-64 / 65 in the years between 1953-1967 are becoming more of a challenge each year. This being simply that they are being more sought after, highly underated in the past 10 years and it's only now coming to light how few top end examples are remaining.
I speak to many old time dealers / sellers who stated in the past 30 years they have seen or even been responsible for melting down hundreds of thousands of these silver dollars, some by the barrel full. So just imagine how few nice examples are left. Even the latest I.C.C.S. population reports states there are less than a dozen examples known to exist in MS-65 state for most dates and less than a couple of hundred exist in MS-64 for most dates. Factor in that there are 200,000 collectors of Canadian coins on this planet and it's not hard to do the math. I currently have the entire collection of Canadian silver dollars in I.C.C.S., MS-64 from 1935-1967 and sold off all my Royal Canadian Mint proof like dollars and have never looked back!

Buy the mint sets and bust them open.

Pay no attention to the offensive language of the second poster. You have a right to collect any coin that you like and it's just rude to have a fellow member call what you choose to collect "junk" or "not serious collector material."

Also, I don't believe you asked for collecting advice...lol.
Some folk are just braggards, I guess and like to hear themselves post.

Enjoy the hobby as you wish

The specimen and PL coins are just stunning!

I personally think the RCM puts out better product than the USM. Buying and busting is a great idea in my opinion, if that fits your need.

Maybe like the auto industry: the sum of all parts, sold individually, exceeds the retail price of the whole car.

My gut feeling is that fewer collectors actually buy full Proof sets just to get one coin out of it. Perhaps they pay a small premium just for the coin they want. In that respect, opening a set and selling the coins individually may in fact make some sense. Regardless, I say go ahead and crack'm open. I do it myself; this is the only way I can capture all the details of the coins.

But be careful not to damage the coins...



Marc


Taken from the 2003 Coronation Set.

canadian_coins

I LOVE THE 2003 DOLLAR! I have various proof sets and individual proof coins that I save for my daughter as she was born in 2003. Very good photography as well. wow! When I tried to photograph my proofs and specimens they ended up looking weird from reflections and even tiny bits of dust or whatever. Not an easy task but you have it mastered. What setup are you using to do that?

Malissa and Archraz, thank you for your posts.

I take pictures or scans, depending on the results I get sometimes certain coins come out better in one way than the other. Generally, I favor my "old" HP Photosmart. Equipped with rudimentary equipment like a $20 tripod, I may take over 20 shots of the same coins at various angles. I favor diffuse lighting, inside the garage when the sun shines through the opened door. Don't worry, some of them come out pretty bad - dust, etc.

Some coins are best using a scanner, like the plasma coin:



Marc