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Brilliant Uncirculated = MS-What?

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Valued Member
Canada
478 Posts
 Posted 03/15/2013  1:09 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rmc to your friends list
Ok....next question.... I search rolls of pennies from the 60's and 70's and you see alot that are stained or have finger prints on them, even nicked up with surface marks ....are they still BU?
Edited by rmc
03/15/2013 1:23 pm
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 Posted 03/15/2013  1:09 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add doubleeagle59 to your friends list
The old terms were always:

Brilliant Uncirculated
Choice Brilliant Uncirculated
Gem Brilliant Uncirculated

Which I thought equated to:

BU = MS60

Choice BU = MS63 or 64

Gem BU = MS65
Edited by doubleeagle59
03/15/2013 1:10 pm
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Canada
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 Posted 03/15/2013  7:15 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add SHAFTA9a to your friends list

Quote:
... you see alot that are stained or have finger prints on them, even nicked up with surface marks... are they still BU?


No,.. BU means Uncirculated if they have marks or such on the coins they have been circulated.
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 Posted 03/15/2013  7:25 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add doubleeagle59 to your friends list


Quote:
... you see alot that are stained or have finger prints on them, even nicked up with surface marks... are they still BU?


No,.. BU means Uncirculated if they have marks or such on the coins they have been circulated.

________________________________________

Yes, it does mean they're still BU.
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Australia
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 Posted 03/15/2013  7:28 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add trout1105 to your friends list
I use 4 terms for uncirculated coins
"Brilliant Uncirculated" isn't one of them
1/ Uncirculated = MS60-62
2/ Choice Uncirculated = MS 62-64
3/ Gem Uncirculated =MS 64-69
4/ FDC = MS70
Valued Member
Canada
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 Posted 03/15/2013  7:55 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rmc to your friends list
lol.....SHAFTA9a says no and doubleeagle59 says yes...Im still confused.
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 Posted 03/15/2013  8:18 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add SHAFTA9a to your friends list
Do it this way, rmc... if you took a coin out of your pocket and the rim was dinged and had fingerprints over it.. would it be Uncirculated?

When I buy a UNC coin I want it to be UNC!
Valued Member
Canada
478 Posts
 Posted 03/15/2013  8:27 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rmc to your friends list
Ok...that is understandable...but if you have a uncircualted roll, why would there be nicks and finger prints on them? The newer rolls dont seem to have this problem but the 60's, 70's and even 80's rolls have these issues. They were never in circulation but still have nicks and prints
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 Posted 03/15/2013  9:10 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add doubleeagle59 to your friends list
If I get a coin from the Mint, totally untouched and totally 'MS' and then I put one fingerprint on it and say I drop it on the floor and the coin gets, let's say two very small 'hits' close to the rim, you're telling me this coin is not still an MS?

Of course it has to be still an MS coin.

If you argue against this and say this coin is NOT MS, then you better be prepared to take 90% of MS graded coins off the market and downgrade them to AU.

and while we're at it.....

if you think dipping is cleaning, then you should take 90% of brilliant white coins off the market,

and if you think toning is natural and has not been 'messed' with in any way, then you'd be gravely disappointed with about 90% of all toned coins out there.
Edited by doubleeagle59
03/15/2013 9:15 pm
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 Posted 03/16/2013  01:25 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add EastVanRob to your friends list
When I started collecting back in the early 70's, the terms used were uncirculated and brilliant uncirculated. Uncirculated meant a baggy or ugly looking uncirculated, and brilliant uncirculated meant a nice looking uncirculated.

I guess Unc roughly corresponded to MS60-MS62 and BU roughly corresponded to MS62-MS63 and up.



Today, at times BU might mean from a mint set, not a circulation strike.
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 Posted 03/16/2013  01:48 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add DBM to your friends list
Brilliant Uncirculated = MSBS
The term is quite self-explanatory and has no grade equivalent
A PL or specimen coin can also be described as BU
"Dipping" is not considered cleaning...
-from PCGS website
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Canada
478 Posts
 Posted 03/16/2013  08:48 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add rmc to your friends list
Hmmmm....everyone seems to have a different opinion on what "BU" means, but the crazy thing is, all of you seem to be right. I'm beginning to think that at one time "BU" really meant something and was a actual grade but today its nothing more than a useless term people use because they are afraid to label it with a MS number. I really dont think there is a right or wrong answer here...the grade of a coin is one mans opinion and will always be highly debated. Does this sound fair?
Edited by rmc
03/16/2013 08:49 am
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 Posted 03/16/2013  10:51 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add JeyRey2000 to your friends list
Why do Canadian coins rarely grade higher than ms66 with ICCS but in the us they commonly have ms67 cents of all types?
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 Posted 03/16/2013  12:53 pm  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add doubleeagle59 to your friends list
Because generally speaking ICCS ms65 = PCGS ms66 and ICCS ms66 = PCGS ms67

Check out the pop reports of each company and the numbers match closely.
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 Posted 03/18/2013  01:13 am  Show Profile   Bookmark this reply Add D0ubl3Eagle to your friends list
The way I see it, there is no MS # equivalent to brilliant uncirculated. BU can describe a coin anywhere from MS-60 to MS-70 but I tend to see the term used more often with coins that would otherwise grade MS-60 to MS-62 since it is probably easier to sell these coins when they are described as brilliant uncirculated rather than something like baggy uncirculated. Neither of which, I think would be an inaccurate statement. The descriptive terms that I typically think of are:

Uncirculated= MS-60 to MS-62
Choice uncirculated= MS-63 to MS-64
Gem uncirculated= MS-65 to MS-66
Superb uncirculated= MS-67 to MS-69
Perfect uncirculated= MS-70

Just my Two Cents.
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