Condition Of Coins From Bank Rolls Vs US Mint Rolls

Coins taken from uncirculated Mint sets should cost you more to obtain, but they take a bit more care with them after they are struck. Such cons are extracted individually from the coining press, (automatically?), and are not allowed to fall into a heap are they are ejected from the press in vast numbers.

Those coins that are rolled still fall onto other freshly minted coins in the heap, as any other common business strike.

It has to be your decision as to how free from bag marks you wish your coins to be.

With Australian freshly minted common business strike issued for circulation coins,
I have yet to find a pristine example, completely free from bag marks, after many years of searching.
If you want pristine, you have to go after coins broken out of uncirculated Mint sets instesd.

Mint sets could be pretty expensive and, if you're demanding quality, most sets mostly disappoint IMO.

Recommend a local coin shop or show when they come back. Many dealers have piles of what you seek - mint sets, BU rolls, mint rolls, etc for cheap. Most dealers will let you open any sets they have to inspect. That's how I found some of best my coins....just randomly looking at sets. My problem was I only wanted the cent, so I had to dump a lot of broken sets!

I would think with the process of rolling coins versus putting them in a bag, the rolls would do slightly better because once rolled tightly are less likely to rub or hit against other coins than those in bags. In addition, the movement of the bags both at the Mint and during shipping would create more bag marks than those rolled.

I have bought so far only rolled uncirculated coins for one series: American Innovation Dollars as the Mint has yet to offer them in Uncirculated Sets. I don't mind this as it keeps the mintage down for a coin type in modern times notorious for being overproduced. The downside is you have to search for good business strike BU coins. It can be costly and cumbersome. The bags are the cheapest option as it comes to a 17 cent premium on each dollar coin, the rolls about 36 cents premium on each dollar coin. I have found searching rolls some dollar coins that would grade above MS63 but seldom higher than a MS65+. However, I don't see too many that are MS60 (well it does depend on the Mint). IN my year of doing this, I have found one coin that I think would grade above MS65 to a possible MS67, maybe even a 68. American Innovation Dollar coins are especially tricky as the Liberty side has a large open field while the reverse depends on the particular design for the State and innovation being commemorative. Probably the most difficult so far to find a high grade Mint state coin is the 2020 CT AI dollar coin. Both sides have large open fields to allow bag and other contact marks to develop.

MY point for the long discussion? I prefer rolls over bags because of the small advantage rolls offer during shipping: coins are tightly packed and therefore have no room to move around as they would if shipped in a bag. But during the minting process both coins are subject to contact marks as they both drop into a bin once minted. Proofs and those for uncirculated sets do not go through such handling.

Another factor is the coin itself, Kennedys will show bag marks on the cheek, neck and surrounding open fields of the portrait, the reverse only on the edge tail feathers and possibly a high point or two as the reverse's design is better protected than the obverse's.

The other coin I have gotten rolls is the San Fran Unc ATB Quarters. I find the San Fran Mint makes nice strikes and the coin SEEMS to have a slightly higher relief than the regular P and D, but again it could be the strike. Nevertheless, still subject to bag marks.

As for quality control of roll, I would say the Philly Mint is the most uneven while the Denver Mint does a better job and San Fran makes a nice strike but the degree of marks seems in between the P and D mints or equal to Denver.

In sum:

Bags - lowest premium, greatest number of coins to chose from but likely to get a larger portion than the other options of the lowest quality with occasionally a few nice surprises.

Rolls - higher premium that can add up as you buy more rolls. Better chance than bags of getting some nice coins but finding those above grade 65 is hard.

Mint Sets - highest premium but depends on the set. Less coins the lower the premium. For present Mint sets, the premium is about $4 on each coin (not counting the face value). But the chance of getting coins MS 66 and higher is significantly greater --- especially ultra-modern sets. The packaging since 2007 usually does an excellent job preserving the sets. The problem is it is expensive and very cumbersome. However, for collectors and dealers specializing on one to two coin types only, and especially those that if sold along in high grade could be expensive, searching Mint sets is the best option. For example, for Franklin half-dollar collectors you can still get Mint sets at an affordable cost and find some great gems. Unfortunately this is getting harder and harder as more people realize this and silver stays well above $20 per troy ounce for 2021.

If I were you, I would limit my search of Mint sets to one series and one that is in affordable or cheap Mint sets. The ones from 1971 through 1998 are the cheapest. But first,I would check the price of BU coins sold individually. Then decide which is more economical.

GREAT POST!

100% agree! I've spent a lot of money on bags and rolls, mainly looking for the highest grade coins I can find. They mostly DISAPPOINT. However, I have plucked some amazing coins in the past but I attribute that to luck and odds - just by the shear volume I used to go through.

My greatest success rate for high grade coins is with mint/proof sets. I used to frequent a local shop and he took in customer material all the time (sellers). THAT is the gold mine for collectors.

Old mint sets kept in a family closet for decades - usually the person to get them next are family that don't care about them and take them to a dealer sell quick. These are generally what I call truly unsearched coins as most people simply bought them and put them away. There are many gems to be found still today in these sets IMO.

I assume you are talking about 1960-1964. The reason why those proof sets are cheaper than the uncirculated sets is most likely the mintages. ~3 million proof sets were produced most of those years while the uncirculated set mintages were between 260K and 606K. Plus, there is twice as much silver in the uncirculated sets.
The cellophane has been a mixed bag. Some have faired well and others not. There are some other posts here in the forum where people talk about which years the packaging was problematic. I don't recall off the top of my head.

I agree with a few other commentators - cellophane is a mix bag. It depends I think if they were stored where the conditions became warm and humid as the coins can get this weird shadow on them from the cellos of the late 50's through 80's.

But as I wrote, choose the coin series you want to get top specimens and your budget (both time and money) to see if it is worth the effort to search through 20 1958 Mint sets to find that top Franklin. IN most cases it is not and you would do best just to get a high grade Franklin. This big EXCEPTION is if you know your varieties and errors of a coin series VERY well. If so then searching Mint and Proof sets is sometimes the only way to go.