Burnished Silver Eagle

What does burnished mean anyway? I bought a 1790's coin
a while ago that said Burnished on the slab. I ended up taking it back because a dealer said he would not have invested in this coin because it was a "problem" coin. Does this mean polished or whizzed?

Thanks. The guy I bought it from was none too happy to receive it back, but then again he never explained what "burnished" meant to me.
He grumbled a bit, but he did give me my $ back. I would have easily kept this coin if it had been a "non-problem" coin. It takes a long
time and a few experiences like this to gain the experience to stay
away from those types of issues. That's one reason I'm glad I had it and it worked out for the best (for me anyway)

I HAVE FOUND THE ANSWER!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After asking this question at a recent coin show I was surprised to find that no one really knew the answer. Some of the dealers thought that the die was burnished and some thought the planchet was burnished but no one could tell me why I could not tell the difference by comparing the "burnished" die coin and the 2006-W anniversary coin. When held side by side there is no difference, at least no difference that I could discern and I've got a pretty good eye for things like that.

The answer is that there is no difference between the two coins. The Mint was authorized to make 250,000 Silver Eagles at the West Point Mint. Twenty thousand of these coins were put into the Anniversery Sets and the remaining 230,000 coins are being marketed as the "Burnished Dies". I can't help but be amused at the fact that these coins are often bringing a premium over the anniversery issue.

Now 250,000 is a very low mintage for a mint state Silver Eagle and it will appreciate for that very reason, however, the Anniversery coin should appreciate faster than the ungraded 2006-W due to the limited initial mintage of 20,000. In addition, you can substantially reduce the 20,000 number because those 20th Anniversery coins that were not sent in for grading can never be graded if they are not still in unopened mint boxes. I would be surprised if there are more than 5,000 real Anniversery coins in existance today. Now for my # 2 favorite play in these coins and that is the reverse proof because that coin can still be graded whereas the other two cannot if they have been opened.

Let me clear a few things up here. The 2006 W 20th Ann. unc Eagles that came in the three coin set are the same as the one in the two coin gold/silver 20th Ann. set and the same as the 2006 W burnished Eagles that were sold individually by the US Mint. 250,000 were included in the 3 coin set, 20,000 in the two coin set, and 200,000 were minted individually for a total mintage of 470,000.
Source of mintage stats: Numismatic News Mint Statistics Apr. 24,2007

The anniversary set coins will not be worth more than the individuals because there is no difference between them. They will all appreciate nicely since the 2006 W is now the key non-proof ASE- 8x rarer by mintage than the 1996. The coins were minted from burnished blanks and have a "W" mintmark on the lower left reverse. The 2006 bullion Eagles (only available from dealers) were minted at West Point also, but they carried no mintmark and had normal blanks.
The only difference between the single one and the one in sets is the fact that since the majority of the ones in sets will probably remain in sets and only be sold as a set, the individual mintage coins will be the majority of the market supply.

www.usmint.gov
2006 marks the inaugural year of the American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin Program. Struck on specially burnished blanks, this coin offers silver precious metal purchasers a new collectible version of the popular American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin and features a finish similar to its bullion coin counterpart. Each coin also bears the "W" mint mark reflecting its striking at the United States Mint at West Point.

2006 W- American Eagle Silver Uncirculated Coin
2006- American Eagle Silver Bullion Coin

It seems to me that the 20,000 gold and silver set is way under valued right now. They are selling on ebay for less than they cost from the Mint. And, I don't see many graded ones either. I would think that sometime in the future these sets, which would need to be graded, would have a nice increase in value, just based on the limited number of sets. But, it sure isn't happening now.

The gold/silver sets were sunk by the fact that the 1oz gold and 1oz silver burnished Eagles could be purchased separately, without the case, for ~$100 less than the set.