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 Replies: 17 / Views: 9,398 |
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Valued Member
United States
284 Posts |
I see a lot of proof quarters, dimes, and half dollars in the bargain bin at my local coin dealer. Prices range from $3 to $12. The coins are in individual Mylar flips. This makes me think that someone broke apart a proof set and is parting out separately.
Is a group of proof coins worth more than the set in its original packaging?
I have a couple of proof sets and I wouldn't mind cracking them open if I get an automatic boost in value.
-- Boris
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Valued Member
United States
227 Posts |
No they are not more valuable in my opinion or in general. In my opinion it would be a mistake to take them out of the set unless you were using it for a dansco and even then I would look to see if the local dealer had one before I ripped apart a set. Those coins you saw in the bin did come from sets. What probably happened was someone was working on a Dansco for say nickels the Danscos have proof slots or at least some do. Someone broke apart the set for the nickel to fill the album then sold the rest to the dealer.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5604 Posts |
I also know of more than a few "dealers" who break up sets for a small mark up per coin.I do agree before a set should be considered to be broken up, check out the shows or a local dealer for the coin, usually they are very reasonable...  PS:i have done this( broken up sets) and while it has filled the holes in the Dansco, I just had to, and in some cases still have to, replace that set. I also enjoy collecting the sets too... |
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Moderator
 United States
187702 Posts |
I have broken apart all of my proof sets and put the coins in the respective Dansco albums. This was much cheaper than buying all of the coins individually.  It all started when I decided to use the Dansco albums that had places for the proofs. I went shopping for them and a dealer said I would come out cheaper buying proof sets and breaking them up. I had been buying proof sets from the mint each year and it occurred to me "Why do I need to keep them as sets?" I broke them out, put them in the Dansco albums, and have no regrets. To each their own, your mileage may vary!  |
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Valued Member
 United States
306 Posts |
You might look at "Pay Close Attention" on the main coin forum. It's about an e-Bay listing for mint boxes ONLY. Sorry, I would link to the thread if I knew how. There might be a market for your boxes |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
because there are a lot more people who collect series of coins (like Lincoln cents or Jefferson nickels) than people who collect proof sets, a large majority of proof sets are broken down and sold by the coin. Generally the individual coins sell for a little more than the set as a whole. |
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Valued Member
 United States
284 Posts |
Ok, I can understand that some people would like to collect a certain type/series of coins (i.e. Washington quarters only). If that's what you are after then I could see breaking a proof so you can take the quarter out and sell/trade/pawn-off the rest. Is there any driving force for breaking a proof just to get it graded by PCGS or some other grading party? Just curious to see if PCGS created a market of breaking proofs to give themselves some extra business. -- Boris |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
5604 Posts |
Just a thought, I know everyone collects all types of coinage and currency etc,i am very grateful for the people out there who do not collect mint sets or do and fall on difficult times and find my coin dealer to sell them to so people like myself, can still get proof sets like 1954,1955,1956,1957,1958, and so on.Again to these people, for what ever reason they sell their mint or proof sets to the coin dealers, I am very grateful for the chance to still be able to obtain these precious sets... PS:I hope some day to be able to have every set ever made(still need a few sets) from proof-1936 to date and mint sets 1947-date.... |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7629 Posts |
Boris - definitely.
A 1966 SMS set sells for $10, maybe $15. If you take the half dollar out and have it PCGS graded at SMS68 CAMEO you have a $500 coin in your hands. There is a huge amount of profit in unusually high grade proof coins out of sets. However....better than 75% of the sets that are still in the government holders are in there because there's nothing in them to rofit from by having them graded. It's a really risky thing to be in when you're newer at collecting and don't have a realy good sense of grading. The fees will eat you alive getting PR66 and PR67 coins back that aren't worth the fees to grade them.
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Moderator
United States
6563 Posts |
Bought a silver proof set for around $45 and broke em out and put em all in 2x2's and sold everything separately on ebay for $125ish. Sometimes it's worth it but I'd do some research first to see if it'll be profitable |
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Valued Member
United States
284 Posts |
GraceOutcast,
Did you get your coins graded or did chance and circumstance help you here?
-- Boris
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1121 Posts |
I do both...Break them out for my collections and Keep some intact. I have broken up a lot more than I have kept in tact. Like jbuck said..It's a cheap means than to buy the coins individual to complete your sets.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
17884 Posts |
Quote:
Is a group of proof coins worth more than the set in its original packaging? Assuming we are talking about run of the mill coins and not special high grade pieces then no they are not "worth" more, but they WILL sell for more frm a dealer. Why? Because it is more troublesome to find multiple buyers than a single buyer for a set. Some coins will sell quickly while others will sit for awhile. Also buyers will pay for the convenience of only getting the coin they want rather than a set which would give them unwanted pieces to dispose of. But if you are trying to sell them TO a dealer you will find that in general he will not pay more for singles. Why should he when he can just buy a set and break it up himself. You might be able to sell the pieces individually to other collectors, but then you have the headache of finding them, and if you don't sell them for less than the dealers do then why should they buy from you? So basically the premium for the singles over th set price is an "annoyance fee". |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
581 Posts |
Agree 100% with coppercoins and condor.
There are a lot of "ifs" involved here.
"If" you can find buyers, the individual coins are worth morte than the set
"If" you don't ruin them or even breathe on them when breaking them out of the sets.
"If" E-Bay and Paypal don't take all your profits, you might make a dollar or two.
"If" you don't mind taking a lot of your time - breaking the set open, carefully storing them, taking pictures, creating the ad, answering questions, mailing, etc. etc. etc. If you don't do it frequently and have a system, it will be a very low $/hour venture.
It also depends on which set. For example, a 1959 Proof set, a 1984 Proof Set and a 2001 Silver Proof set will (should) get you three very different answers to your question.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
14454 Posts |
people also break proofs out looking for that PF-70 coin and then sell off the rest that they didn't think made the cut. If they think one coin in the set has a chance at 70 they will break apart the set and send it in for grading and that 1 coin will be worth more than the whole set so everything else they make off the other coins is just more money and thats why they are in the bargain bin
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Moderator
United States
6563 Posts |
Quote:
Did you get your coins graded or did chance and circumstance help you here? I just stuck them in a standard 2x2 and crossed my fingers.  |
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Replies: 17 / Views: 9,398 |
Posted 01/11/2009 4:00 pm
