Why Are Some Proofs Under-Collected?
The United States Mint has been pounding out millions of proof sets for more than 60 years now. They are a mainstay offering for the Mint – and plenty of collectors make it a point to purchase multiple sets every year. After all, they always look great, easily become part of our personal collections and can make wonderful gifts for friends and family throughout the year. So it might come as a surprise that there are actually some United States proof coins that seem to be wildly under- collected. Let’s examine some of the more popular series, and take a good look at the proofs that many of us may have overlooked for one reason or another.
Mercury Dimes
The Mercury dime, also known as the Winged Liberty dime, is a rock-steady collector favorite right now and has been for a very long time. The design is simply beautiful, and many folks consider it a true American classic. Most of us swoon over a good-looking 1916-D when this key date rarity crosses the auction block. People still like to put together full series of these little gems. But what about the proofs? What is often called the beginning of the modern proof set series goes back to 1936. The number of sets sold that year was absolutely tiny, and one of the 4,130 proof 1936 Mercury dimes that are on the official Mint tally will not be a particularly inexpensive coin. But proof sets were issued from 1936 to 1942, and the last three years do qualify as rather inexpensive coins. Yes, they do not have costs that we would consider pocket change, but paying $200 for a PF-64 piece from 1940, or 1941, or 1942 – when the mintage peaked at 22,329 – is an extremely good price. Compare any of these three proofs dimes with that 1916-D and it becomes obvious that these are quite under-valued.
Roosevelt Dimes, 1950-1956
If the Mercury dimes manage to hide a few low-priced proof gems among their seven-year run, well, the Roosevelt dimes may qualify as a treasure trove. The design honoring our fallen president wasn’t unveiled until 1946, and no proofs were issued at all until 1950. That first year of a rejuvenated program of proof coins saw a whopping 51,386 of the sets produced. One of the Roosevelt dimes from this first year generally costs something like $50, and that is as a PF-65 coin.
There are some that have been graded and encapsulated at levels as high as PF-67, but even these tend to ring in at less than $100 in any of the print or online price lists. By 1953, when proof set production went into six figures (128,800 to be exact), the price drops to about $40. And by 1956, the cost really bottoms out, to about $10 for a gorgeous example. Once again we seem to have some seriously under-collected proofs.
Washington Quarters
The Washington quarter has become the coin to watch over the past two decades, with a wealth of reverse designs, and now a novel obverse. But from 1932 all the way to 1998, the only big change of design in this series was the dual-dated Bicentennial reverse issued in 1975. The proofs among these 25-cent pieces are seen among the 1936-1942 years, and are also present when things got cranked
up again in 1950. As with the Mercury dimes, the trio of years in the early 1940 s are priced way down there below what we might expect, at about $100. And as with the Roosevelt dimes, the price tags for proof Washington quarters in the early 1950’s start higher up, at about $50, but quickly drop to something as low as $25. Once again we have found that there are some under-valued proofs hiding in plain sight.
Walking Liberty Halves
OK, if those series we just glanced at seem to cost far less than they should, surely the Walking Liberty half dollars will all have hefty price tags when we look at the limited number of proofs. After all, this is one of the bread- and-butter classic silver United States coins that collectors love. Surely, the proofs issued from 1936-1942 must cost the proverbial king’s ransom.
In a bit of good news for any king in need of ransoming, only the 1936 proof Walking Liberty half dollar has a cost associated with it that would make most of us cringe. If we can land even a 1939 as a proof, in a grade such as PF-64, it might cost less than $500. That’s an amazingly small outlay for such a rare coin in such a good condition. The trio from 1940-1942 generally cost even less, making them as desirable as their smaller, Mercury dime siblings.
Franklin Halves, 1950-1956
The Franklin half dollars generally exist in the shadow cast by the Walking Liberty halves, but that’s good news for those of us who wish to find some bargains that have an eye-popping look to them. The number of proof sets we just mentioned for 1953 – the 128,800, inclusive of the Franklin half – appear in many of the standard price lists, such as those found here in Numismatic News, as 50-cent pieces costing about $150 in PF-64 condition. This too qualifies as an amazing price.
But Why?
We posed the question right at the beginning: Why are these proof silver pieces as inexpensive as they are? To make two quick comparisons, if the 1916-D Mercury dime were this rare, we’d probably have to spend something like $100,000 to land one. If the 1932-D and 1932- S Washington quarters – two key dates to that series – were as rare as the proofs issued only a few years later, their costs too would be astronomical. So why are these as inexpensive as they are? As with any big question like this, there are probably a number of different answers. It might be because we do not have to have any of these pieces as proofs to complete a series. It might be because none of these proofs are considered key dates for their particular series. It might be because it is never difficult to find proofs in some excellent condition, since they were not ever made to circulate. Whatever the case may be, though, there seem to be quite a few different series with some proof issues that have remained gloriously under-valued. How long they will stay that way is anyone’s guess, as predictions are tough to make, especially about the future – a saying attributed to plenty of famous people. For those of us interested in these series, however, trying to get our hands on any of these proofs right now may indeed be a worthwhile collecting challenge.