Greysheet Catalog Details (GSID: 10973)

Original Packaging: Rigid plastic was again used, as for the Special Mint Sets of 1966­ and 1967, and this has remained the U.S. Mint’s standard for Proof sets ever since.

A transparent casing with frosted border and an upper and lower shell housed a black plastic insert with fitted holes for each coin. This insert was not printed or embossed, but the outer casing was. The Mint eagle is embossed on the front shell, while the back carries the words “UNITED STATES PROOF SET” in raised script, with the notation packaged by u.s. mint in small, block letters. The assembled set was inserted into a blue cardboard box with a tuck­-­in flap at its top for ease of opening and closing. The inscription “UNITED STATES PROOF SET • 1968” appears on the box in white script.

So successful was this packaging concept that it has survived to the present day with only superficial changes. Therefore, later packaging will be described only when it is exceptional.

Commentary: Collectors were delighted to learn that mintmarks would return to the nation’s coinage beginning in 1968. These letters would henceforth appear on the obverse for all denominations, though this was nothing new for the cent. In a double surprise, the Treasury Department announced that not only would sales of Proof sets resume, but also that these sets were to be made at San Francisco and carry that facility’s familiar S mintmark.

The 1968 sets were quickly oversubscribed, the Mint having to return many checks once its production limit had been reached. While a number of collectors were thus disappointed, those who received the 1968­-­S sets saw them quickly rise in value. Ultimately, these high prices receded, and the 1968­-­S Proof set spent many years trading at or below its issue price until enjoying a revival of interest during the 1990s.

Much of the initial desirability of this year’s set centered around the Proof­-­only San Francisco Mint dimes, quarters, and halves. Completing a series of these coin types now required that the S­-­Mint Proofs be included, and the manufacturers of coin albums were prompted to issue two versions for each of these series—one having the Proof­-­only coins and one without them.

A major rarity resulted when an obverse die for the Proof dime was shipped to San Francisco without a mintmark. Amazingly, despite the care with which Proof dies were to be inspected, no one seems to have noticed this omission until after it produced an unknown number of coins. Someone inspecting finished coins eventually spotted this error, but it was too late to prevent shipment of an unknown number of sets including this error coin.

In its eagerness to distinguish these true Proofs from the SMS coins of 1965 to 1967, the San Francisco Assay Office overpolished most of the dies. The result was that these coins, while pleasingly brilliant, often reveal mushy details.

Varieties for this year’s set include a slight doubled­-­die obverse for the cent, visible on the date and liberty. Also highly collectible is the Proof nickel having a clearly repunched mintmark. Prominent doubled­-­dies are known for both the obverse and reverse of the dime, and they may be detected by examining the lettering of each. The quarter has a slight doubled­-­die obverse variety, with the date and lettering affected, though it is difficult to distinguish. Better is the doubled­-­die reverse variety, which is plainly evident in the value quarter dollar. Finally, the motto IN GOD WE TRUST is doubled on some of the 1968­-­S half dollars.

Cameo and ultra cameo Proofs, while they form a minority of the 1968 issues, are not especially rare. They remain, however, highly desirable.

In an interesting footnote to the 1968 Proof Program, the dies for these coins were subsequently sold to a scrap metal dealer in nearby South San Francisco, the author’s former hometown. Though partially defaced with a blowtorch, the dies remained sufficiently interesting that a quick thinking entrepreneur purchased them and offered the dies to collectors at a considerable mark­-­up. While once commonplace in the coin market, these dies are now well dispersed and command good prices. Their value is dependent on the amount of the design visible, fully defaced dies being worth much less. Among the several hundred believed to exist, they range in value from $50 for a cent die to as much as $500 for a half dollar. Though U.S. Mint dies of most years are illegal to own, the Secret Service has never challenged the legality of the 1968 Proof dies, since their official disposal is well documented.

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