1991-S 1c-50c Proof Set, 5 Coins PR

Original Packaging: A two­-­piece, transparent plastic casing with frosted borders held a purple fiberboard insert containing holes for the coins. This was slipped into a purple cardboard box upon which the words “United States Mint Proof Set • 1991” were printed in silver script.

Commentary: Sales of regular Proof sets declined again in 1991, as the generation that remembered the exciting Proof set market of the 1950s and ’60s began to pass.

The relief of all United States coins continued to be lowered during the early 1990s. While this was done to address die­-­life issues relating to the circulating coinage, its depressing effect on the sculptural quality of the coins is most painfully evident in the Proofs. While richly detailed, United States coins of recent years seem almost two­-­dimensional and lack the boldness they possessed when each respective design was new.

Source: Whitman