Differences between bullion and uncirculated American Eagle dollars

mlittle

Other than the W mintmark, are there any differences between the bullion American Eagle $1 coins sold by coin dealers, and the uncirculated American Eagle $1 coins sold by the U.S. Mint?

Smudge

No.

robec

@mlittle said:
Other than the W mintmark, are there any differences between the bullion American Eagle $1 coins sold by coin dealers, and the uncirculated American Eagle $1 coins sold by the U.S. Mint?

Or modern Silver Proof sets?

MetroD

The finish is also different.

Mint Explanation

Che_Grapes

The finish is not different - they do handle them a bit better. But no - the mint mark and the fancy box is the ONLY difference.

Che_Grapes

@MetroD said:
The finish is also different.

Mint Explanation

No it is not

MilesWaits

Perceive collectibility versus bullion pricing.

santinidollar

The uncirculated eagles have a matte-like finish due to a special preparation of the blanks.

Cranium_Basher73

They don't make good soup. That's for sure.

MetroD

@Che_Grapes said:
The finish is not different - they do handle them a bit better. But no - the mint mark and the fancy box is the ONLY difference.

Respectfully, this is not my understanding.

I already supplied the current Mint definition of uncirculated coins above. It specifically refers to the use of burnished blanks to create a matte finish.

Here is another source that describes the difference between current production bullion and uncirculated coins.

PCGS also specifically identifies the uncirculated coins introduced in 2006 as "burnished". For example:
~ 2021 T1 ASE (bullion/regular strike) 837645
~ 2021 T2 ASE (bullion/regular strike) 880924
~ 2021-W T2 ASE (uncirculated/burnished) 886558

derryb

@MetroD said:
The finish is also different.

Mint Explanation

The mint link answers your question.

vulcanize

@MilesWaits said:
Perceive collectibility versus bullion pricing.

And the Sunshine Mint in Idaho has the cheaper alternative priced slightly above spot

https://www.jmbullion.com/1-oz-sunshine-walking-liberty-silver-round/

ricko

@mlittle ... Welcome aboard.... No real differences of significance as discussed above. I like the W mint mark, so often get them. Cheers, RickO

Jzyskowski1

The roll edition is different from the burnished W mm ase. I am loosing my mind with people who can’t understand that there is a reality and no it’s not what they decide to dream about. Dang. Read the mints own words. They are a special finish. Ask pcgs or ngc why they label them differently from bullion. Happy Halloween. Nightmare on ase street. 😈 Welcome 😉

Goldminers

The other difference not mentioned above is about $50

moursund

Difference in wait time when buying

smuglr

Wouldn't the fact that these are reported as two distinctly different mintages indicate there is indeed a difference?

Che_Grapes

@MetroD said:

@Che_Grapes said:
The finish is not different - they do handle them a bit better. But no - the mint mark and the fancy box is the ONLY difference.

Respectfully, this is not my understanding.

I already supplied the current Mint definition of uncirculated coins above. It specifically refers to the use of burnished blanks to create a matte finish.

Here is another source that describes the difference between current production bullion and uncirculated coins.

PCGS also specifically identifies the uncirculated coins introduced in 2006 as "burnished". For example:
~ 2021 T1 ASE (bullion/regular strike) 837645
~ 2021 T2 ASE (bullion/regular strike) 880924
~ 2021-W T2 ASE (uncirculated/burnished) 886558

Thank you for the clarification - always appreciative of learning new things - no offense taken I am fine to be proven wrong - just ask my wife 😜.
My point - I once owned a 2013 ASE W “uncirculated” eagle purchased from the mint and I also had tubes of 2013 ASEs I bought from a “monster box” via CNI in California (golddealer.com) one day I compared the coins ... the ONLY difference I could see with my 16X loupe was the mint mark - the surface quality and the luster was identical!! But maybe this has changed since then... they didn’t used to call them “burnished” - so nowadays it might be different. But in 2013 it was the same coin just minus the mint mark... but I could be wrong ... I’m told that happens from time to time

Jzyskowski1

2013 roll edition and the 2013 burnished ase are different. One specifically sez collectors edition and has a mm. Why is this so hard to understand 🙃

Steven59

@Goldminers said:
The other difference not mentioned above is about $50

It's only money - spend it now cause you can't take it with you when your expiration date pops up -

MetroD

@Che_Grapes said:
Thank you for the clarification - always appreciative of learning new things - no offense taken I am fine to be proven wrong - just ask my wife 😜.
My point - I once owned a 2013 ASE W “uncirculated” eagle purchased from the mint and I also had tubes of 2013 ASEs I bought from a “monster box” via CNI in California (golddealer.com) one day I compared the coins ... the ONLY difference I could see with my 16X loupe was the mint mark - the surface quality and the luster was identical!! But maybe this has changed since then... they didn’t used to call them “burnished” - so nowadays it might be different. But in 2013 it was the same coin just minus the mint mark... but I could be wrong ... I’m told that happens from time to time

The current generation of uncirculated collector AE coins started in 2006. Reference
So, your 2013-W Unc. ASE, 518726, should have been struck on a burnished blank.

For the record, I am not an expert on finishes. As such, I have no idea how much of a visual impact the burnishing process is supposed to have on resultant 'shine/gloss', and how consistently this target can be maintained in production. All I know is that the Mint says that the uncirculated coins are struck on burnished blanks in order to produce a 'different/matte' finish.

I have an uncirculated AE currently at PCGS for grading. When it comes back, I will conduct a side-by-side comparison against its bullion counterpart. I am curious about what these old eyes will be able to detect.

Note - I recognize that this is not a statistically significant sample size. Further, the observations will not be 'quantified/measured'. It is just for me.

Goldminers

@Steven59 said:

@Goldminers said:
The other difference not mentioned above is about $50

It's only money - spend it now cause you can't take it with you when your expiration date pops up -

I must agree since a SP70 and a MS70 are already in my set. If you want to see the real differences between the two, the easiest way is to just buy them both and have a look