1958 1c-50c Proof Set, 5 Coins PR

Original Packaging: The five coins were sealed into a single pliofilm envelope with pockets for each coin, a sixth pocket containing an embossed and printed paper seal reading US MINT PHILADELPHIA in blue on a silver background. The set was protected from damage by two strips of cardstock, and all three pieces were inserted, along with a brief fact sheet, into a buff-colored mailing envelope. This carried a pre­-­printed return address and a discreet notation of its contents.

Commentary: Taking 1957’s spike in sales out of the equation, the number of Proof sets delivered in 1958 is probably just what it would have been in the course of normal growth in the coin collecting hobby. For collectors of the time, however, the drop­-­off from 1957’s mintage seemed to bring an end to the speculation in Proof sets as commodities rather than numismatic items. This setback proved to be only temporary, as the following year’s sales would demonstrate. In the meantime, although investors retreated to the sidelines or left the stadium altogether, interest in collecting other specialties continued to be strong.

1958 proved to be the final year of the Lincoln cent’s original reverse design, though this was not known to collectors until December, well after the cut­-­off of Proof set orders. Thus, it had no impact on initial sales, though it did influence the secondary market to some degree in later years.

The nation underwent a brief but distressing economic recession during 1957 and 1958, and this led to some relatively low production figures for the Philadelphia Mint’s circulating coinage of 1958. Though this had no direct bearing on the rarity of that year’s Proofs, it did lend a certain cachet to all Philadelphia Mint coins dated 1958. Cameo pieces form a minority of this year’s Proof coins, but they are usually available for a premium. As with nearly all issues of 1936­ through ­1970, ultra or deep cameo Proofs are quite rare. Most of the 1958 Proofs have fully brilliant fields and devices, with destructive overpolishing of the dies being quite common.

Source: Whitman