What is the difference between a mint set and a proof set?
Mint sets are made by the government and have one of each coin made from each mint in uncirculated condition. They are regular “business strikes” (just normal coins) that are packaged by the mint and sold to collectors. If we made pennies at two mints in that year, the mint set will have two pennies; one of each. If we made three dimes (P, D and S), there will be one of each of them. Proof sets are very different because the coins are not “business strikes”; they are specially prepared and made. The dies that stamp the coins are polished to a mirror finish. The planchets, the discs of metal the coins are made from, are polished to a mirror finish. The resulting coin is almost more than perfect; it almost looks like art. In addition to proof sets and mint sets, there are also (in some years) more than one kind of proof set. Some years, the coins that would usually be made from “clad” (like the dimes, quarters, and half dollars in 1976) would be made in silver for special “silver proof s
