Expert: Jim Lawniczak - 1/11/2008

Question
Can you tell me what is a better type to start collecting a sms or a proof set. And what is a business strike. Also I want to start collecting these U.S. sets should I look for coins in a hard case as a set or coins in hard individual cases or sets in unopened original treasury envelopes?

Answer
Sorry, Trent, can't really tell you what to collect -- you need to determine what you are interested in yourself.  To answer your question about minting -- a "business strike" is on a coin intended for circulation.  So all the billion cents the mint makes each year and releases to the public are business strikes.  Proof coins are different, they are struck specially for collectors -- with more careful preparation and usually a double strike so that the pieces are sharper and nicer looking.  They are meant to be sold to collectors.  The SMS (special mint sets) were made many years with regular (non-proof) coins also to sell to collectors.  Rarely, the mint has released a coin in an SMS that wasn't made for distribution generally, I think the 1970D Kennedy half is one example.  Most people keep their proof sets in the original treasury sets of issue for sets from 1956 and after -- before 1956 I think the packaging wasn't all that good and also was dangerous to the long term health of the coins, so you see most of the proof coins before 1954 taken out and put into holders.  I think they came both ways in 1955.  Try going to www.ebay.com and doing searches for various proof sets (example 1953 proof set) and see what is selling.  I believe that there is a premium paid when buying a set still in original mint packaging; and if unopened perhaps a bit more due to the fact that the buyer knows he is not buying picked over material (example -- someone buys 200 proof sets, submits the best examples say the Proof 66 coins to a grading service) and then sells the lower grade coins to you.  Hope this helped, Jim Lawniczak