The United States Botanic Garden Coinage And Currency 1 1

[Marc Bateman]

Hi there hope everyone is good. So I was looking through some auctions and came across a bulk lot for sale. So I decided to bid on it, there wasn’t much worth a darn in the box. The last item I looked at was this botanic coin currency set. Looked it up online and was very surprised. Yes happy! Lol,  so this item should be graded correct? Or not worth it? Thank you!

[JT2]

Marc,

 

the only thing in this set worth grading and that is if you want to spend the money is the nickel in 1997 this set came with a special SMS type 5 cent piece.  in high grade full steps you can be anywhere from $150 - $500   it is kind of hard to tell from your pictures if this meets the bill or not.  with that being said the only value to the botanical garden coins is if it 70 and those are hard to come by.  so its value is only around $30 - $35 which doesnt make it worth grading... hope this helps?  and the Dollar well it is only worth 65 cents now, so i would spend that before it goes to 50.

[Fenntucky Mike]

On 11/13/2023 at 6:11 AM, Marc Bateman said:

Hi there hope everyone is good. So I was looking through some auctions and came across a bulk lot for sale. So I decided to bid on it, there wasn’t much worth a darn in the box. The last item I looked at was this botanic coin currency set. Looked it up online and was very surprised. Yes happy! Lol,  so this item should be graded correct? Or not worth it? Thank you!

I'd leave it as is. 

This is an interesting one, according to the NGC price guide the nickel is valued at $450 in MS70 condition and at $200 & $190 in MS69 & 68 respectively, yet, these sets can be purchased for under $140 all day long on ebay. 

At NGC, graded 70 = 36%, graded 69 = 61%, graded 68 = 2%, graded 68, 69 or 70 = 99%. 

I like the dollar. 

[Marc Bateman]

That's what I said when I looked it up, happy happy. Thank you so much for all your help and advice 

[Sandon]

   In my opinion, it makes no sense to remove modern issues from their protective and attractive mint packaging and submit them to third-party grading services. I bought this set from the mint in 1997 and enjoy it in the mint packaging. I strongly suspect that at some point the original packaging will generate a premium, especially for a lower mintage issue such as this (25,000), where many or most have probably been submitted to grading services.

[powermad5000]

I agree with the other responses in each of their respective viewpoints and I would probably not submit any of this either. While I am more on the coin side of things, I do have some paper bills and did have a long conversation with a bill expert while at the World's Fair of Money a couple years back to assess what I had. It was very educational. So, in the case of your one dollar bill, if you like it, keep it. But from a collectability value standpoint, it is worth its face value despite it being crisp and uncirculated with no folds or stains. It does not have a low or "repeating serial number", it does not have an error such as missing ink or a fold over or cutting error, it was not printed off center, and it is not part of an uncut sheet or sequential set of say 100 bills. I learned that even modern "star" notes that are not accompanied by sequential serial numbers are just really not worth any premium. I had a lot of super crisp bills that I had stored for years that needless to say, were converted after that discussion into silver coins. It is a nice bill though and it sounds like you made out pretty good on the whole set so chalk that up in the win column! 

Edited November 13, 2023 by powermad5000

[Marc Bateman]

The dollar bill is part of the botanical set! It's all staying together 

[ldhair]

I would keep it together as well. As said above, many of these have been broke up. Many of the Nickels in these sets and the set they made in 1994 have toned ugly from the mint packaging. I'm sure the number of nice sets is still going down.

[Lem E]

On 11/13/2023 at 7:38 PM, ldhair said:

I would keep it together as well. As said above, many of these have been broke up. Many of the Nickels in these sets and the set they made in 1994 have toned ugly from the mint packaging. I'm sure the number of nice sets is still going down.

So here is my question. If the mint packaging has the potential to tone these coins in an unattractive way, should they be removed from the packaging to preserve the coins natural state? I have seen both the 94 and the 97 nickels with the unattractive yellowish to sometimes brown toning. These satin finish coins don’t seem to respond well to this type of toning. It may be the pics but it kind of looks like these two coins are starting to tone on the reverse? I’m not saying they should be sent to a TPG for grading but do you just leave them in the mint packaging and hope for the best? For the record, I generally agree most things in OGP should be left in there. 

[ldhair]

On 11/13/2023 at 8:32 PM, Lem E said:

but do you just leave them in the mint packaging and hope for the best?

That's what I'm doing. A quick, proper dip could conserve them but getting them out of the packaging will distroy the packaging. 

[J P M]

I like this set and would love to find one out there in the wild. I think you should just hang on to it.

[BillJones]

Looking at the set, I don't think that it has been stored properly in the past. The nickel appears to be toned. I think that keeping the set intact is the best bet. 

This set was a big deal years ago because of the nickel. Given the quotes here, I guess the nickel still is important. A lot of collectors ordered this set and didn't get it because the mintage was limited.