Uncirculated $ ATB Quarters

After all they are still a clad coin that the mint is trying to make money from.
Can never remember what the term is for profit from making money? Siegnorage I know I spelt it wrong.

Just to be technical, these are not uncirculated coins in the mint's current use of the word. They are circulation strikes. Uncirculated strikes are different, they use higher forces, specially prepared die, and are handled individually. I truly wish the mint had originally had the guts to coin a new term for the coins they are calling uncirculated, usurping a long used numismatic term to mean a circulation strike coin that had not seen any wear from very little circulation. What I would like to know now is if the S mint quarters will be included in this year's America the Beautiful Quarters Circulating Coin Set. If they are, I will not have to buy rolls to get a single example of each coin.

I feel that the extra handling is insignificant. A high end "circulation" strike can look as good (if not better) than a low end "uncirculated" strike. Somewhere in the middle the two would be indistinguishable with no way to prove which is which.

However, the satin finish mint sets of 2005~2010 do have a significant difference, one that is easily seen. The satin finish mint sets do qualify as a special mint set, in my opinion.

Business strike and circulation strike are the same thing, coins either intended for circulation or struck in the same manner as coins that are. All modern coins that the mint has been calling uncirculated are struck with special dies using higher strike forces that circulation strikes. The fact that the mint has stopped using the satin finish does not mean that uncirculated coins are the same as circulation strike coins. It does make telling them apart less obvious but not impossible. My biggest beef with the mint is that by reusing previously accepted terminology they are creating confusion and promoting misunderstanding. The mint itself has, in recent years, often grossly misused terminology. They called the 2009 UHRDE a business strike coin, something it was not at all. It is a proof coin with a mildly satin to fully brilliant finish (the so called PL, prooflike specimens are from late die state strikes where the die have been hammered smooth).