Advice On Pre-1955 Proof Sets?

MAKE SURE IT IS A REAL " PROOF SET " Id examine it in hand and not take people words for it off ebay.
See the luster the mirror reflection for yourself

I have seen people say its a "proof set" when it is actually just a " MINT "
set of the years coins uncirculated buss strikes.

If you cant see how do you know whats inside ?
I have seen the late 50's mint sets still in the paper for sale pretty cheap, sure they have the year on the bottom corner of the set no was to see the coin
saw on the forum a guy bought a 58 opened it and saw the coins were dirty ugly
tried to clean them with acetone and they didnt have that deep mirror cameo finish like he hoped

from what I have read not all proofs are created equal

Sort of says it all except not stressed enough to be carefull of coins on ebay. And too, regardless of what a dealer says, do not buy unopened boxes of proof coins. You really don't know what is inside. You wouldn't buy a house without looking inside would you?

Every set I bought was examined and to be honest, I would say that with the exception of 2005 to present, I probably looked at 5 to 10 sets of each year before finding one. The hardest sets, by far, were some of the Prestige sets I wanted (the silver commemoratives tone like you wouldn't believe), the 1976 40% silver set (again, toning) and the 1955 and 1956 flats because it was hard to find a set that I comfortably felt looked good when the packaging itself starts to wear a bit, making it hard to see the coins. The easiest were the silver premier sets from the 1990s (consistently clean, beautifully struck and well-preserved).

The other challenge has been balancing cameo vs. quality. I've always chosen problem-free coins but sometimes this meant (for older sets) coins without much of a cameo finish. The prizes, from the beginning, have been sets with several cameo coins that lack a single problem coin. It took years to find a 1955 with clean coins and a rich frosting on Ben. :)

It seems like pre-55, there is no reduced value for sets without original packaging, perhaps due to widespread assumption original packaging is known to be bad for the coins and therefore the less time the coins spent in contact with it, the better. I could see the appeal of a set in plastic + its original box in a bag off to the side... perhaps. It also occurs to me that the 1950-1954 sets could be put together a coin at a time. I see certain coins like the halves, quarters and nickels fairly widely available, and own a few already, while cents and dimes seem to be hard to find and rather pricey. I do not know whether it makes more sense (financially) to seek out sets, or build them up.

I also sense that 1950-1954 is fairly achievable, but 1936-1942 will be a five figure investment no matter how long I look for a good deal.

I have heard that about the original packaging on proof sets and I posted that question on this forum when a friend told me last summer. The myth was busted by several forum members. The mint did not use damaging materials to pack coins. I am in the same boat as you; working on pre-1954 sets. While not in a real hurry, when do find one, I make sure it's in the original mint packaging and not one of those Capital holders.