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 Replies: 9 / Views: 5,828 |
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Valued Member
United States
129 Posts |
I recently read a blog that said US Mint set coins are produced using a different minting process than coins intended for circulation. This person claimed that the coins going into the official mint sets are stuck with higher pressure giving them on the average a better appearance. I always thought the mint set coins were the same as business strike...just placed into the mint packaging. Possibly having fewer coin marks because they don;t go through the bagging/rolling process...
Does anyone know for sure if there is a different minting process used for mint set coins? I ran across this blog when looking for 1983 P/D BU Kennedy's. The price on the official "Souvenir Sets" in my opinion is hard to justify ... unless there is actually a difference in the minting process.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
Souvenir mint set coins are regular business strikes but these were always selected runs of nicer coins. They used them as they came but picked nice runs. Mint set coins are made differently but are still really the same. There usually are no "real" differences between regular issue and mint set.
But the mint set coins are made on the old vertical single presses rather than high speed quad presses. They are made under higher pressure and at lower speeds to allow the metal more time to flow. They are then specially handled, cleaned, and dried. But these will be identical, at least in theory, to a very well made coin from a quad press. In a given year there might not be a coin so well made coming from a quad press.
There are other "niceties" that often show up on some mint set coins. Burnished planchets and polished dies are sometimes used. If you can find both of these on the same coin it will be highly Proof Like. Some dies for mint sets will be sand blasted or basined. The SMS set coins were often cameo. Mint set dies have a slight tendency to be a little better made and a huge tendency to be better aligned in the press. Between '05 and '10 the dies were chrome plated making the coins appear matte.
Mint set coins don't gat the attention they deserve. There are some truly remarkable coins in these even when there wasn't anything special done. The finest coins each year almost all go into mint sets. You can find spectacular coins in circulation but looking for them in mint sets is like shooting fish in a barrel.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
I like the '83 souvenir sets and most of the BU '83 quarters come from this source. The mintages are low at 15,000 for the Philly and 20,000 for the Denver. These sell at a premium because of the high attrition and low mintages. In the long run this premium will probably disappear. Finding choice sets with gemmier quarters is probably a good bet but if I justy needed the half dollars I'd probably be inclined to seek out nice specimens from dealer stock or graded examples. You'll get a better coin for a lot less money probably.
Regardless of what people claim there are not a lot of nice gems in these sets. The few gems tend to be Philly dimes and the rest are near gem at best. The pennies used to be nice but these tend to be corroded now days. These coins just aren't mint set standard and there are better sources for high grades for most coins. The average grade is excellent though and other than the corroded coins there are fewer dogs in them. If you're looking for nice choice coins then these sers are a decent buy. If you're looking for government issue they are a must. If you're looking for investment in the short term they might be spectacular. If you're looking for investment in the long term there are better places to put your money. If you're looking for the nicest coins then check all these sets you see but for the main part you'll buy elsewhere.
Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
1982 and 1983 Souvenir Sets are so expensive because they are quite uncommon. No regular Mint Sets were produced 1982-83 so the Souvenir Sets that had to be purchased directly from the Mint gift shops are the only true "mint sets" available for those dates. The sets themselves have a significant premium over the value of the coins so if you are looking for album coins, you may want to try and obtain them individually.
To add to cladking's always-excellent comments, the 2005-2010 Mint Set coins featured the new satin finish that could only be found in the Mint Sets. Think of them as middle-quality, in between business strike and proof. In addition to the higher pressure/slower strike, the dies were specially treated to impart the satin finish to the coins.
Edited by biokemist6
09/16/2011 10:58 am
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Valued Member
 United States
129 Posts |
Thanks for the info. You learn something every day... I never thought there was a difference in production method for the mint set coins. I knew about the satins for 2005 through 2010. But didn't know that all other mint set coins were made on a different type of press. The 1982/1983 coins have been a headache for me... I put together a lot of album sets and use mint set coins whenever possible because I always found the best examples in mint sets (now I know why)... But for the 82/83's where there were no mint sets issued... it's tough to find really nice gem coins... most of the stuff you buy as BU in mail order or ebay turn out to be Au at best. Guess I'll have to spring for a few souvenir sets to see how they look. Thanks again |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2270 Posts |
If you can find the Numismatic News sets they'll have some of the best Phillys. The Paul and Judy's Coins sets also have some pretty nice coins. These have the blue and red stripes in the corner of the envelope. The best was a small issue that came in a flat yellow pack from out west somewhere (probably California) but the packaging on these isn't stable and any still in the packaging will be ruined by now. I watch for singles in dealer stock but many of these are AU as well. There are a lot of sliders out there because Numis News was running articles about how tough these were as early as April of 1985. Be especially careful of the '82-P since these were heavily saved in AU. I keep an eye out for the type "d" reverses on these too. The whole reverse is a little different but the easiest place to spot it is the right side of the "N" in "UNUM" is farther from the eagle's head on the type "d" (small motto). These appear as ealy as 1977 and are very very tough in the early years. Late years are common but the '84 is tough in unc because people bought the mint set which all have the type "c". The '81-P is the only type "d" that appears in mint sets (~.7%). Time don't fly, it bounds and leaps.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
997 Posts |
With Mint sets coming out in February and including all that years various quarter and dollar varieties would that indicate special strike runs for these? Aren't the circulation strikes run off later in the year for the 2nd, 3rd etc. varieties of the dollar and quarters?
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2764 Posts |
Seeing larsdog's thread on similar topic so I thought to bring this thread back to life.....
It would be interesting to see how the 2013 Mint Set + Business Strike (S-mint) coins will be integrated.....
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1302 Posts |
There was a dealer out of Texas selling PCGS MS-66 1983-Ps. His ebay name is SquareDeal2012. He always seemed to have one of them on ebay. I checked and found that he had a string of about 7 or 8 MS-66s from one submission that he was getting $180-$300 each for. I don't know how many of the 114 certified MS-66s are his, but at least the ones from that string were. There isn't that much 1983-P material on the market for me to say what the typical grade of the coins are, CladKing would probably know. The pieces I have in my possession graded MS-64, MS-65, and MS-66. I think 64 is probably typical. |
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Pillar of the Community
United States
2764 Posts |
1983 is a 20 year old coin..... just because the cent is still abundant doesn't mean they are available. I probably need to allocate some time/attention/money in these coins before they are out of reach.
I am also eager to hear some responds from the expert, on Charles's post.
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Replies: 9 / Views: 5,828 |
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Posted 09/16/2011 10:52 am
