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 Replies: 13 / Views: 1,233 |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
595 Posts |
I'm buying my breakfast at McDonald's, and the guy breaks open a roll of quarters and gives me one as part of my change. I immediately recognize it as a brand-new Washington State Quarter, the first one I've seen. I hold out a dollar and ask if I can have four more of those quarters, and he obliges me. So -- are these five quarters uncirculated?  After all, they were only in circulation from his cash drawer to my hand. Such a moral dilemma for a Monday morning.....  Jan |
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Moderator
 Australia
16806 Posts |
Technically, no. They've circulated. Practically, it depends on how carefully he, and you, handled the coins during the transaction.
Don't say "infinitely" when you mean "very"; otherwise, you'll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite. - C. S. Lewis
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Rest in Peace
United States
2884 Posts |
I would say if you now remove them from circulation, fresh from the roll (handled them properly of course, no greasy finger prints) you could consider them un-circulated. If a roll is broken open and you then remove a coin from circulation I think its an Unc. Remember an Unc must show no wear to be an Unc! This is no different than what a dealer does at his store when selling the coins from bank rolls. Good technical question though!!!Mike  |
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Valued Member
United States
470 Posts |
Uncirculated is a condition not a transaction. While true, once they hit the cash drawer they are circulated but it all depends on how greasy the guys hands were that handed them to you and how quickly you placed them in 2x2s, flips or airtights. If you dropped them into you pants pocket and they jingled all the way home, they are no longer in uncirculated condition.
However, being a good numistmatist, I'm sure you had your travel kit with you in your fanny pack. You quickly put down the happy meal and laid down a fresh towel on the counter. After the crowd was at a safe distance, you put on your cotton gloves and carefully slipped those virgin quarters into 2x2 and stapled them shut while the crowd looked on in awe. Under those circumstances, they are uncirculated. You never knew that travel kit would come in so handy ..did you?
Edited by Andrew289
04/30/2007 09:11 am
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1984 Posts |
When you received your uncirculated coins from McDonald's, depending on the condition you picked them up in, you were just getting uncirculated coins as change. Circulation happens when the coin remains involved in commerce or is handled for a duration long enough to change it so that its details and/or surfaces have been altered from its original state so much that it no longer appears pristine (mint). A truly uncirculated coin "shows no trace of wear." From the Red Book: Uncirculated "has no trace of wear but may show a number of contact marks, and surface may be spotted or lack some luster." I also don't agree that the coins have technically circulated. It's more like you and the cashier opened a roll together. In order to call them circulated I believe you need to put them in a parking meter, or use them in commerce. Circulation is a two-way (circular) flow, and your coin has only flowed one way. It may have traveled: Mint to Fed Reserve Bank to local bank to merchant to you. You have stopped the coins from being circulated. Bully! (And I mean that in the T. Roosevelt way). |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
7123 Posts |
circulated and Un Circulated are conditional evaluations ,, not dependant on how the coin was aquired. The coins are UNC in my opinion .
Metalman
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Pillar of the Community
United States
6381 Posts |
"Uncirculated" is also a matter of opinion. I posted my 1979-D error quarter in the Errors and Varieties section. This coin had been loaded into a vending machine and came to me via the change slot. It rode in my shirt pocket until I got home and put it in a flip. I sent it in to NGC for grading and they called it as MS-63. For all practical purposes, if a credible grader determines a coin is Unc, then that's what it is!
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Valued Member
United States
470 Posts |
Glad to hear that you chose your shirt pocket over your pants pocket. All of those pocket pieces, loose change and those darn house keys woulda had a nice time with good ole Jorge. Shame you didn't have your travel kit with you. It might have graded out MS-65 or 66 if you did.
Always carry protection in your wallet. You never know when you might need it.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
717 Posts |
From mint roll to you, clean hands, didn't jingle with other coins or items=Uncirculated.
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Moderator
United States
23522 Posts |
quote:
circulated and Un Circulated are conditional evaluations
That's the key, right there. We are discussing a condition, not a status. A properly cared-for coin could remain in a condition of (lack of) wear any grader would call Uncirculated (or Mint State, as in "exactly as it came from the mint") for years after it left the bag or roll. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1173 Posts |
Another way of looking at it...an uncirculated collectible coin may change hands many times over the years...maybe at or near face value, frequently well above face value, but the coin is still uncirculated so long as its condition warrants that grade.
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Valued Member
United States
376 Posts |
 Since about all of us agree that they would be uncirculated, does that mean you are buying breakfast for all of us? I like the steak,egg,&cheese bagle.  Madspec |
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
595 Posts |
OK -- here's the rest of the story (sorry, Paul Harvey.)
Later I went to a local coin dealer where I asked for five Washington-D quarters (because the ones I got at McDonald's were P's), and the clerk in the store reached into a case and brought out a small white box labeled "WA-D" that was full of shiny quarters. From it he took five quarters with his bare hands and slid them into a paper envelope.
As far as I can tell, the only difference between that bunch of quarters and the ones I got from McDonald's was the envelope and, of course, the presence or absence of airborne grease.
Everyone -- thanks for your comments.
Andrew -- you cracked me up.
Madspec -- you betcha. Meet me at the McD's on Old US 27 in DeWitt, Michigan, and I'll buy your breakfast.
Jan
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
20753 Posts |
Another way of looking at it...an uncirculated collectible coin may change hands many times over the years...maybe at or near face value, frequently well above face value, but the coin is still uncirculated so long as its condition warrants that grade.
Best explanation yet. Imagine an uncirc coin made a few hundred years ago and traded a hundred times. The condition should still be UNCIRCULATED although it moved all over the place.
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Replies: 13 / Views: 1,233 |
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Posted 04/30/2007 08:32 am
