1942 6 piece proof original cellophane-Real?

[markcoin-migration]

A while back I acquired a 1942 6 piece proof set in the original cellophane. There is no question the coins are genuine proofs. Beauties. The Walker will take your breath away and you need sunglasses to view the Mercury. And that's through the old cellophane. They are each in their individual Mint issued cellophane holders. Folded over, as usual, and stapled with the old steel staple. The two nickels are between the Lincoln and Mercury. What nags me is that I can find no information on the Mint actually releasing a six piece set. I thought they only released the five coin set, and then in October 1942 when the metal nickel was pre-empted for the war, they released the silver "P" nickel proof separately. I can find no evidence under magnification of the staple being bent, or removed, the extra nickel inserted, and then the staple reinserted. There is no sign of tampering or tearing. The cellophanes all match in color and discoloration pattern - starting to brown down the center. What think ye? If anyone is interested enough to take a gander, I have some pretty good pics I will be happy to forward. Any thoughts or knowledge is appreciated. Thanks.

[DWLange]

Before 1950 proof coins were sold at individual prices, so the Mint would staple together whichever pieces were ordered. In 1942 it would have sold both versions of the nickel as long as the supply of the copper-nickel edition lasted, so there's no reason to doubt that this set could be original and as-issued.

[markcoin-migration]

Thank you. Your information backs up what I was thinking. Gale and Ruth in their book on proofs and mints make contradictory statements. In the 1942 section, they say no 6 coin sets were issued. Elsewhere in the general section on the pre-war proofs, they said the coins were ordered individually and not actually issued per se as sets. Still, since this was done year-end, and most collectors usually buy near first issue, this must be a little rarer than the 5 piece. Thanks again!!