At Christopher’s, we stock most proof sets dated from the early 1950’s and mint sets from the early 1960’s. These are popular gift items for collectors and also for those “difficult to buy for” people. We can also create “birth year” sets made of in-stock coins housed in a styrene holder, if the proof or mint set you need is not available.

What is a Proof Coin?

Proof coins are specially minted coins produced by the US Mint since the mid-1800s. Single proof coins were sold to collectors, and some sets were produced for presentation to foreign dignitaries and honored individuals. The dies used to produce them are highly polished, and after each few strikings, inspected and re-polished. The planchets or blanks are also polished to eliminate any imperfections in the finished coin. The proof blanks are hand fed into the press and the finished proof coins are inspected and hand packaged individually or in sets.