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There's a saying in business, "Find a need and fill it." When trying to figure out what you want to specialize in as a career, what to sell, how to improve your product...this saying is something to think about, no matter what you do.
Yesterday I went shopping downtown. Had a delicious lunch, served by my favorite waiter. In change I received a 1967 quarter. It doesn't seem that long ago, but that coin is 50 years old! The coin was not Mint State to be sure. It showed wear and was the dull color you see on circulated clads.
I recall the Special Mint Sets made from 1965-67. Although they were not proofs, they were nice in their own way and provided a set of coinage that was the best the Mint offered in the first years of non-silver coinage. The sets were not that popular with collectors. The half dollar was 40% silver, no other silver, and the issue price was $4. Compare that to proof sets of the previous years, with three 90% silver coins, selling for $2.10.
1967 was a remarkable year for coins because this was when normal dating resumed. During the so-called "coin shortage" of the early 1960s, 1964-dated coins were struck until 1966. 1965-dated coins were also struck until 1966. Yes, this includes the 90% silver coins.
When I began research for my book, "United States Clad Coinage," I realized that some recent dates did not show up in circulation. There were billions of 1965, 1966, and 1967 dated dimes and quarters, but afterward, the production slowed down a bit. No one cared about clad coins in change, since they were not silver. Long before the Statehood Quarters, I tried to encourage collecting clads out of circulation for the fun of it.