Best bet for high-grade new issues: Bags, Rolls, or Mint Sets?

planetsteve

Today is the day that the 2019 Kennedy bags and rolls launch at the Mint. I've gone through bags of these before. Back in 2007, I bought at least one bag, then screened and submitted five halves to PCGS that came back as three 67s and two 66s.

A month or two ago, I ordered a single bag of 2018 halves, and didn't really have as fun a time as I did with this year's Sacagawea dollars. Unlike the dollar coins, the Kennedys are shipped with both mints' issues in one bag, raising questions in my mind about how they get handled on the way there. Those 2018 halves were really baggy, and just not attractive. (I did note that unlike in '07, this time it was the Denver examples that were in better shape than the Philly coins.) Out of 200 I selected just one, and PCGS gave it a consolation grade of MS66:

So. The reason to get the bags is because they deliver coins at the lowest markup. The Kennedy bags are already 40% over face (in comparison, the Sacs are at 12%), and the rolls are even worse. Also, I have concerns about how the coins are handled during the rolling process. While it's counterintuitive, isn't it possible the roll coins are baggier than the bagged coins?

Finally, I recall @wondercoin, for example, posting about searching mint sets for nice Kennedys. But that's a really expensive undertaking, isn't it?

Smudge

Mint sets may be a better bet, but I see little if any upside.

jmlanzaf

Large coins minted for circulation will always tend to be marked.

Mint sets are BY FAR the better bet, using your term. The most efficient and probably cheapest way to get a really high grade example is to find one in a slab already certified.

Cougar1978

Mint sets - slab = 2-5x profit.

Hemispherical

Registry.

A lot the hunting is driven by maintaining it.

planetsteve

@Cougar1978 said:
Mint sets - slab = 2-5x profit.

So what you're saying is... if you want to make money reselling mint issues, leave them in the mint set OGP and don't bother having them slabbed?

While it would be nice to find virtually perfect coins, have them graded, and find homes for them among the registry hounds, I just find the searching to be relaxing, and the grading to be validating. Also, just like a vacation photo can say I was there, a pleasing example in a slab can say I was collecting then. One more reason for doing this is to be really serious about filling an album hole; why just buy a modern coin from a sample-photo listing on ebay when you can go through hundreds of examples and find the definitive best among them?

I also raise the question here because I'm vaguely recalling other posts here suggesting that rolls aren't the best option for the nicest examples; and that mint sets in recent years had some ugly halves in them.

Cougar1978

No slab the nice ones cut out rest (not worth slabbing) for junk box.

Whatever get them out of that USM pvc stuff.

Rolls can be picked over.

yspsales

Many have been picked over but they are Cheap fun.

Learn the varieties.

ricko

Mint sets usually produce the best opportunities for high grade coins... but even then, they are not commonly found...I find more that have been overlooked in old sets...Cheers, RickO

smalltime

I have been through approximately 24,000 Kennedy Halves from Mint wrapped rolls from 2001 to the present and have only had 7 coins grade out MS68, about 30 graded MS67 and the rest I submitted were MS65 to MS66. Sometimes I cull up to 50% of a roll before reselling the good stuff. The one bag I had was all culls as far as I am concerned. I took it all to the bank and took my loss. Rolls are certainly cheaper per coin than mint sets and bags are the cheapest, but in my opinion, none of them seem to have better odds of finding the great examples when you buy quantities site unseen.

leothelyon

Mint State: Same as uncirculated

Mint Luster: The dull, frosty, or satiny shine found on uncirculated coins

Strike: The process of stamping a coin blank with a design. The strength of the imprint – full, average, or weak – affects the value of rare coins.

Uncirculated: The term “uncirculated” may have three different meanings when applied to a coin:

It can refer to the particular manufacturing process by which a coin is made
It can be used as a grade when referring to a coin’s degree of preservation and quality of the strike
It can point to the fact that a coin has not been used in everyday commerce

At the United States Mint, the term uncirculated refers to the **special coining process **used to make the coin, which gives it a brilliant finish. Uncirculated coins are manufactured using the same process as circulating coins, but with **quality enhancements such as slightly higher coining force, early strikes from dies, special cleaning **after stamping, and special packaging. Uncirculated coins may vary to some degree because of blemishes, toning, or slight imperfections.

Business Strike: A coin produced for general circulation (as opposed to a proof or uncirculated coin specially made for collectors)

Roll: Coins (made for circulation with less coining force, not uncirculated, as struck AS IS, see above) packaged (rolled or bagged) by banks, dealers or the United States Mint.

Collectors across this land have hours of fun searching through rolls or bags but the best coins are in the mint sets. I hope this helps.

All the above except where I commented in parenthesizes is listed in the US Mint glossary.
https://www.usmint.gov/learn/collecting-basics/glossary

Leo