Mint Quality is great now
Clackamas1
Posts: 1,762 ✭✭✭✭✭
I used to grade and submit semi-professionally modern coins from mint sets, rolls, and bags from the mint. I have seen it all over the last 25 years. I just got 10 of the $100 bags of halves. If you have not seen them in hand, they are really clean with a ton of wide open fields, ripe to display all the planchet flaws. The planchet blanks that they used must have been the finest I have ever seen. Even the color is different, brighter, and looks almost like silver. It is subtle. The strikes are great. I am impressed by the quality changes across the board with everything I purchased this year. Something did change and for the better at the US Mint—bravo, Mint employees. I absolutely love the HR Saints from this year, and that entire dime-$20 gold series is out of this world best Gold product they have done since the originals.
Comments
They've been getting better and better for years. We used to have about the worst quality coins and now they are among the best. I haven't seen any of the collector issues recently and will make a point of it.
Swiss coins can be difficult to distinguish between proof and mint set and circulation coins are nearly as well done as mint set coins. A lot of the '65 - '99 clads and other coins made for circulation often didn't even look "BU" when new in the bag.