1997 U.S. Mint Proof Set
When I was a kid, my parents started doling out various family heirlooms to me and my brother. I don’t recall what they gave me, but I remember feeling screwed over because he inherited my dad’s coin collection.
As a history buff, I love tangible connections to our past such as currency. So it was natural to start my own collection! Each and every Christmas, I’d get a mint U.S. coin set like the one above, then augment it with miscellaneous contributions as I travelled around the world.
It’s fascinating to see the pristine condition of these coins, especially in contrast to the poor state of their in-capsule neighbors.
