Mint Sets 1968 - Date Good For Quality Coins

Many collectors have been purchasing mint sets just for breaking opened to fill holes in albums for decades. Sure beats buying individual coins. Plus it is a guarantee that coins from sealed mint plastic will be in uncirculated condition without question. In my opinion both mint sets and proof sets are worthy of breaking up for series albums. In addition, some coins are only available from certain mint sets. The '70D, 87P and 87D Kennedy halves for example.

That's for sure. In the newer dates I've seen beautiful coins that could reach 67 and then coins with marks on them. Look at mint sets closely if you are buying them from a site like ebay.

Looks like a good starting point

Mint set coins are usually better struck by dies in newer condition. For the clad coins there is often almost no alternative because the rolls weren't saved in most cases.

Some dates almost always have haze or tarnish; '68-'71, '75-'80. This will usually come off if you soak the coins in acetone for a few days. Pennies are more problematical and often can't be saved. The '68 is the worst.

On average about 2% of mint set coins are nice Gems but there is a lot of variation with specific issues. '79 cents are tough but '72-D are easy.

This is very true. Incredibly enough though, many collectors thought it was wrong to bust up mint sets so they'd order singles for lots more money from sellers who busted them out of mint sets because mint sets are the only source for many of the coins made since 1965. It was so bad 4 years ago that the wholesale prices of the 1975 set was lower than face value but the wholesale price of the coins in it was more than double face value!

Now days almost all the sets are gone but there's still so little demand they can be found anywhere. Don't worry that all the coins are tarnished in some dates because all the sets are this way and most of the coins are fine after soaking in acetone. It's easy enough to do. Just buy the acetone in a gallon jug at any hardware and cover the container because it's very volatile and will evaporate quickly. It's also very inflammable so keep away from ignition sources. Rinse the coins when you take them out and pat gently with a plush towel.

To select mint sets you have to push the coin a little under the plastic so you can tell the marking on the plastic from the marking on the coin. It's common now days that the plastic is scratched up. If you can't find a Gem you'll rarely have to look at more than a few sets to find a nice chBU. The toughest is the Philly Ike in the '75 set (type I). Most of these are ugly and a nice choice coin appears barely 5% of the time. Gems were tough in 1975. This coin will usually be tarnished but about three in four can be restored.

No need to turn it over.

The usually round black spots can't be removed. Neither can the little specks with coloration around them.

Others here may disagree, but I buy unc mint sets all the time locally. When I do come across one that's tarnished, I will dip in e-zest for no more than 2 seconds and rinse and pat dry. This will usually remove the tarnish.