Proof sets offer you the highest-quality specimens of U.S. coinage-true masterpieces of the minter's art. It's no wonder collectors have bought more than 38 million sets in the last 10 years alone! Now, in a fully updated and revised second edition of his groundbreaking book, award-winning numismatic researcher David W. Lange offers a definitive history of the U.S. Mint's Proof coin sets. They're all inside, from the vintage period of 1936 to 1942, through the classic years of 1950 to 1964, the Special Mint Sets of 1965 to 1967, modern sets of 1968 to 1998, the 50 State Quarters(R) Proof Sets of 1999 to 2008, and today's historically important sets with Presidential dollars and other current coins. This new full-color edition includes: 56 more pages than the first edition; an illustrated history of Proof U.S. coins; date-by-date analysis of each Proof set, starting 1936; original issue prices, values of uncertified sets, and values in several certified levels of Proof; advice on collecting, storing, and displaying Proof coins; a study of U.S. Mint packaging over the years; certified coin populations; official mintage and sales figures; a photo gallery of earlier (18th- and 19th-century) Proofs.