I'm curious why some people break up a proof set and sell the coins indvidually? I would think that a set would be more valuable than a single coin.
Any Input would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Terry

Not many people think in coin terms. If you told them "It's like a car with matching numbers" or "It's like a 1st or 2nd or 3rd generation Beanie Baby with perfect tags" (Ty nut a while back) or "It's like HD TV vs. regular TV", they might get it.

Or instant gratification. Maybe it's an urge to spend money NOW; even if you could sell it to the dealer down the road for 7.00 (as is the case with my 1987 US), some find it easier to <gulp> rip the set open and get a gumball.

Yeeechhh... I need a shower.

I have every proof set from 1955 to 2006, with some duplicates in there. I'm sure if I ever were to sell them I could get more for them as a set than selling them as individual coins.

It depends on the year and the coins. In general the parts are "worth" more than the whole. Assuming each coin can be fairly graded and sold at close to the current bid/ask price range, that is. The other reason people break sets is to fill slots in their collections. Not everyone collects every series and so some people break the sets and only take the halfs or the cents or...

This may be a silly question but can a proof set be graded by one of the grading companies while left intact? By intact I mean can it be left in its original packaging. If not then I would think that the value of the individual coin might well be more than the complete set once it is properly graded.
I have quite a few proof sets and a few have one of two coins that are exceptional in deep cameo. I am thinking of breaking the sets up and get the best of the coins graded.

I'm not sure if any other company will grade them in place. But the closest I've seen NGC will place some proof sets in a multi-holder and keep them as a group.

As to why break them up? When some one collects Kennedy's or some other individual type coin to get the best possible. Or a 1964 proof set list as 12$ in the red book. But a 1964 Accented Hair deep cameo Kennedy at pf68 list any where from $35 to $9500 on the PCGS site.

So in actuality you can get some great coins in a proof set, break it up have it graded and be further ahead in terms of value then when the coins were a set.

I think I'll leave my proof sets intact

I think your summary of the situation is correct. I also believe that it will come down to the individual that owns the sets. In my case I have multiples of each of the sets and can afford to break up one or two of them. I will still have some left over for my personal enjoyment.

i only have one proof set but id like to own a few more

Yep, its according to your collection needs or if you do a lot of buying/selling. A dealer would be a good example of someone who would probably pop a set in a heart beat. I forgot about the registry folks. They may want X coin to fill out a specific set and send it out to get it graded.

BTW, I collect proof sets also. Right now have 1954 to 2006. And I will probably keep them intact.

My proof sets are mostly from the 60's and 70's with a few from 99 and 2000. I have at least four of each of the 60's and 70's and a couple each of the other years. I also purchased some gold proofs in 99 and 2000. These I really like.
Now my interest is raised again and I will be going through all my sets to see just what I have in DC coins and just what I might want to break out.

Sometimes I like to buy a specific proof coin but not the whole set.
My brother had never seen a 1776-1976 quarter so I got him a proof of one.
I've also purchased a 2000-s Sac because I wanted to have one that was stand alone and not in a set.

You can make more money off of selling the individual coins than selling the proof set as a whole. When I was first told this by someone several months ago I did not beleive it. But I tried it and I sold a 2000 proof set. I then broke a set up and sold the individual coins. I made more money off of the individual coins than I made off of the whole set.

Sure. And if you have thousands of proof sets the difference is even
greater and it's far easier to find buyers for 20 rolls of '78-S dimes than
it is for a single '78-S dime.

Retailers use large numbers of proof sets to assemble date/ denomination
sets and there is an active wholesale market in proof rolls. Every coin in
a roll has to be cull free to find a buyer. This means that about 2% to 10%
of the coins can't be used in the rolls. Most of those busting up proof sets
will not include the top 1% or so since these can be slabbed and sold at a
substantial profit. So the average coin in these rolls is actually nicer than
the average in the proof sets. Culls are usually taken to the bank and end
up in circulation.

But the point is that even if you subtract out the profit made on the best 1%
the parts of most proof sets is worth more than the whole. Most collectors
don't want to break up their sets so there is always a clamor for proof sin-
gles. Back in the old days you'd see every dealer at shows or shops would
have stacks and stacks of proof sets. This isn't seen much anymore as there
are many buyers who seek out quantities for destruction.

The mint set market is in some ways even more dynamic. All of the raw
moderns have always had a very high attrition and there are some which
appear to have actually gotten scarce enough to command a premium as
an intact set. I'm not talking about the very late date sets since these are
a seperate case but rather about the older sets whose populations have sim-
ply been devastated in the face of rising demand. The most dramatic exam-
ple would seem to be the 1969 mint set. Here is a set containing some of
the toughest modern coins. The Philly quarter and dime simply can't be found
elsewhere. There were very few rolls ever set aside and anytime these sur-
face they are quickly used to make the denomination sets. The '69 mint set
typically will have very poor coins in it as it was one of the poorest made in
modern times. The average set will be worth little to the roll assemblers be-
cause of this poor quality yet the set wholesales for around $7. This implies
that the very paltry demand for intact sets is outstripping the demand for the
pieces. Some of the coins ibn this set will have to readjust in price unless this
situation rectifies soon. This same process should eventually apply to most
all of the raw moderns including the proof sets. The exact dynamics will de-
pend on collector demand but I see growing demand for the denomination sets
to continue to cause destruction of the raw sets no matter how the economics
play out.

At coin shows I always see dealers selling proof coins separately. More so than sets. They always make large amounts of profits doing this. Think of it as a car. If you tried purchasing all the components of a car separately, you would pay many thousands of dollars more than just purchasing the completed unit. The same works with a auto junk jard. They pay you about $50 for a complete car and sell all the componets for thousands of dollars. One old grill emblem for one of my old cars just cost me $50 at a junk yard. That is what they probably paid for the entire car once.
This is the same thing with a coin collection in an album. If a dealer buys the complete set from someone, the first thing they do is break it up for individual coins. They are easier to sell than a complete set and the profit is astonishing.

[quote name='cladking' date='Feb 6 2007, 12:01 PM' post='300957']


Retailers use large numbers of proof sets to assemble date/ denomination
sets and there is an active wholesale market in proof rolls. Every coin in
a roll has to be cull free to find a buyer.



I have never been able to wrap my mind around the concept of a "proof roll", it just seems to me the coin to coin contact would damage or mar the proof condition....yet I see them, and hear about them as in the above quote, can someone enlighten me?

Proof surfaces are not all that fragile.

Coins are easily remove from the sets without damage though a very few will
get marked if you're not careful. So long as you wear gloves or handle them
by the edge they can be put in tubes without marking them. It is important to
be sure the coins can't bounce around in the tubes or they will acquire a little
marking. It can get bad if there's excessive shaking. If the cap doesn't secure-
ly hold the coins in place then you need to put in a little cotton or the like so there's
no movement.

These are carefully removed from the tubes and put in albums. If a coin was
perfect in the set, there's a high probability it will still be perfect in the album.

There is some danger that these were touched and will likely develop fingerprints
in time but few will get touched. While albums aren't the best means for storing
proofs they aren't necessarily worse than the mint holders. Many proof coins
are damaged by the mint holder. This is a bigger problem with foreign sets and
mint sets but it afflicts US proof sets as well.