| Author |
 Replies: 18 / Views: 3,479 |
|
Valued Member
United States
86 Posts |
I've decided to order one each of the 2012 Commemorative dollar coins before they go off sale at the Mint. I know I want the Infantry in uncirculated, my Lincoln and several ASEs have convinced me the UNC is going to look great.
The Star Spangled Banner on the other hand has me in a pickle. I bought the Bicentennial Silver Dollar Set as a gift and it sure looked great in proof. I'm not locked into any type of collection so it shouldn't bug me that it would be the only proof, but it does a little.
Has anyone compared the two side by side? Other's opinions?
I'm leaning heavily to ordering the proof because I know it'll be a beautiful coin.
|
|
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
I usually prefer the MS versions as well, but you are right the banner is a beautiful coin in the proof. Hard decision.
If you were planning to get the other one at any point as well the proof usually is cheaper on the after market if that makes any difference. I have an MS set but not taking sets into account I think I would go proof on this one
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
The 2009 Lincoln I thought looked better as a Proof. So did everyone else, apparently: Proof = 375,000 Uncirc. = 125,000 In 2009, I bought an Uncirc. Lincoln along with my Proofs, just so I could have one on hand to compare it with the Proofs I bought.  I vote for an SSB Uncirc., because you already have a Proof, and the Uncirc. Commemorative Dollar mintages tend to be lower. |
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
7187 Posts |
As a proof collector I have the proof version but in seeing uncirculated examples they seem to have more detail on the raised portions. This has something to do with the minting process to produce the cameo effect but at the cost of grainy looking devices.
|
|
CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives
 United States
12258 Posts |
My collection of modern US commemorative dollars is made up of all uncirculated coins, with just a handful of "extra" proof coins added for one reason or another. I prefer the "look" of the uncirculated coins, mostly because I like their uniform finish (it reminds me of classic US commemorative coinage) and they do not tend to develop the spots and "milky" haze that many proof coins do â€" I find these impairments very distracting and they take away from my enjoyment of the coin. I have both versions of the SSB dollar in hand (thanks to my purchase of the Bicentennial Set you mentioned) and can say that both are attractive coins. I've uploaded an image of the SSB uncirculated dollar so that you have a real coin to view vs. the Mint website's artist depictions - maybe it will help you decide. Good luck!   Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
|
|
Valued Member
 United States
86 Posts |
Thank you everyone for your comments and especially commems for the photo! I've spent more than a few minutes looking at muddler's SSB proof in his Modern Commemorative Dollars thread, commems' photo provides a great balance.  My mind has been swayed, it looks great in uncirculated too so that's what I'll get from the mint. As has been said, I can always grab the proof down the road as it'll likely be the less expensive of the two. |
|
CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives
United States
12258 Posts |
@devilsbite: I'm glad the images were useful to you. I'm sure you'll enjoy your new SSB coin!
Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
2734 Posts |
That pic convinced me to buy the SSB Uncirculated.
I thought the reverse wouldn't translate well to MS finish, but it looks really interesting on the actual coin.
|
|
Valued Member
United States
86 Posts |
My SSB and Infantry commems landed today!   Very nice coins, super happy with my decision! muddler's comment about the "grainy" devices on the current proofs informed my decision as well. Looking at my ASE's (proof -v- unc) I'm not to excited about how the proofs look. I much prefer the "smooth" look of the uncirculated coins. The uncirculated coins look much more like a sculpture than the "laser proofs". To me, the new process is more two dimensional, like a print rather than a true 3D surface. While putting my new beauties away I noticed that my 82 Washington is a proof. I guess this wouldn't have been my first one! Now I'm motivated to make a new ebay search; only 20 more posts and I'll be able to do commerce here. Sorry about bumping this thread but I wanted to close the loop and say thanks again! |
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote: Looking at my ASE's (proof -v- unc) I'm not to excited about how the proofs look. I much prefer the "smooth" look of the uncirculated coins.  I started out doing a set of both and that quickly became an uncirculated set after seeing them together. Congrats on the new coins |
|
CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives
United States
12258 Posts |
Glad you're happy with your purchases! Keep us posted on your future additions!
Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
|
|
Pillar of the Community
United States
3077 Posts |
do we know the final mintage numbers for the SSB coins yet?
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Theyre still on sale. Theyre limited in the amount they can make though by the law
|
|
CCF Master Historian of USA Commemoratives
United States
12258 Posts |
Here are the latest sales figures for the SSB coins:
Proof Gold: 5,792
Uncirculated Gold: 6,257
Proof Silver: 110,199
Uncirculated Silver: 39,489
Two Coin Set: 11,217
Bicentennial Silver Dollar Set: 31,607
Sales of the gold coins have been the most active lately, with the uncirculated version seeing the strongest sales -- it's actually now sold more than the individual proof coins. This is likely being caused by folks speculating on the future potential of the uncirculated gold coins - until recently, sales of the uncirculated coin were well below 5,000.
With the exception of the gold coins, it's unlikely that any of the figures above will increase by more than a few percent by the time the coins go off sale.
I think the most surprising numbers above are the individual proof and uncirculated gold coin sales -- it's not typical for the uncirculated coins to outsell the proofs. Of course, if you add in the gold proof coins from the two-coin set, the ratio changes to a more typical 3-to-1 (proof-to-uncirculated).
Collecting history one coin or medal at a time! (c) commems. All rights reserved.
Edited by commems
11/22/2012 10:59 pm
|
|
Valued Member
United States
86 Posts |
Thanks for the numbers commems. Was wondering the same thing myself. Spent a few minutes today getting quick pics of the new coins and thought y'all might like to see them. As arrived and lightly handled, in capsules, shot with terrible light.      I would love to see some pictures of the proof or gold versions! Could we change the title of this thread to: Post your 2012 Commems - no pics, didn't happen! Might be fun to see what everyone's got. eta: I've got it bad...bid on a low scoring slabbed Olympic dollar proof on ebay! When will it end?  Edited by devilsbite
11/23/2012 4:49 pm
|
|
Bedrock of the Community
13014 Posts |
Quote: I've got it bad...bid on a low scoring slabbed Olympic dollar proof on ebay! When will it end? Dont worry its only around a hundred or so coins for the MS set if you count the half dollars too. Then of coure you can move on to the classic series as well  |
| |
Replies: 18 / Views: 3,479 |
Posted 11/06/2012 01:45 am
