1965 - U.S. Special Mint Coins Set

1965 - United States Proof Coins Set - 1¢, 5¢, 10¢, 25¢, 50¢ and mint token
Minted at Philadelphia Mint / Total Special Mint Sets minted - 2,360,000
Packaging - Mint sealed cellophane / blue outer envelope (1965 only)
*** Beginning in 1965, the dime and quarter have been changed to a copper-nickel metal composition with no silver and the Kennedy half dollars are changed to a composition of 40% silver and 60% copper.
*** In mid-1964, the U.S. Treasury Department announced that the mint would not offer Proof Sets or Mint Sets the following year. This prompted a nationwide shortage of circulating coins, wrongly blamed on coin collectors. In 1966, the San Francisco Mint began striking coins dated 1965 for inclusion in United States Special Mint Sets. These were issued in the same type of cellophane (or pliofilm) packaging as prior year Proof Sets, however the coins were of brilliant quality and not "proof" quality. For the subsequent years of 1966 and 1967, the Special Mint Sets were newly offered in rigid, sonically sealed plastic holders and the quality of the coins improved somewhat in 1966 over the 1965, and in 1967 had improved to a more proof-like quality. The 1966 and 1967 sets did not include the above token, only the 1965 sets did. - From 1968 on, the Treasury returned to issuing both Mint Sets and Proof Sets so the "Special Mint Set" series had only a three-year production, 1965 / 1966 / 1967. - No Proof Sets were made from 1965 to 1967.