California state quarter and die set

[JIM F.]

I purchased the subject item from the US mint several years ago, and have not seen any offered for sale recently. Trying to estimate the current value. Any input is appreciated.

[BillJones]

My impression of these items is that they have not been very popular because the dies were totally effaced with no remnants of the design showing.

 

I’ve not had any experiences with efforts to sell these state quarter sets, but I did sell quite a few canceled dies that had been used to strike 1968-S Proof coins. These dies were obverse and reverse pieces for the cent, nickel, dime and quarter. I also had the collars (the circle of medal that goes around the planchet when it is struck.) as well. My going price was $60 apiece, and I sold quite a few of them. The difference was that the these dies had some detail left on them. Here is an example of a 1968-S Proof nickel die.

 

 

Years ago a large coin dealer got ahold of some more of these dies except in his case there were no details on them. He made finished wooden stands to display them with an example of the coin included. I don't thik he did very well because I bought one of these sets for $20.

 

Another experience I've had is with the 1996 Olympics coin dies. Those were quite expensive because only a very limited number of them were issued, and they were cross canceled. Here's an example.

 

 

I think that the item you have dones not have a strong market, but that's only my impression.

[DWLange]

In the 1970s I bought one of the die and coin displays mounted on a plaque from New England Rare Coin Galleries. This was Jim Halperin's company before he sold it and teamed with Steve Ivy to form Heritage. I paid $39.95 for the display, and there was just a small portion of design remaining from a 1968-S quarter obverse die. I still have it, though the plaque's printed metal plate suffered a few scratches during one of my moves.

 

These dies were sold as scrap steel by the San Francisco Assay Office (as it was known in 1968) to a local salvage yard in my old hometown of South San Francisco. The dies were bought from the scrapper by, I believe, SF dealer John Skubis and advertised for sale around 1969-70. They were cleared by the Mint for sale, so there was no problem selling them openly. I suspect that New England bought up his remainder for its offering a few years later.

 

In the 1980s I bought a matching pair of 1968-S dies for the half dollar, along with a collar for same. I paid considerably more for this group, and they've made good instructional aids at seminars and the like.