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DISAPPOINTMENT WITH MINT QUALITY?? PICS POSTED
CoinGuy42
Posts: 307 ✭✭✭
After a mistake I made recently....ordering 10 2002 US MINT UNCIRC sets last year and never looking at them until recently, only to discover one set was missing coins. Once I discovered one set was missing coins, I contacted the mint. Of course, since it had been more than 30 days, there was nothing they could do, I understood that...and learned my lesson.
So, after receiving my 10 2003 UNCIRC mint sets today, I immediately opened them for inspection. Of the 10 sets I received, I could only put together 6 sets that I thought were of good quality. I am immediately sending four sets back for a refund. Replacement is not an option as I do not want to get on the merry-go-round of getting more poor quality sets.
The common problems I found were rim dings, significant scratches and dings on the fields and devices and a couple Lincolns were terrible, pictures posted. Would the Lincoln be considered an error, with any value?
I would like to hear comments from others of their results from inspecting their mint sets/products.
it also raises a question.....Is it better to order coins from the mint as soon as they are released, or is it merely luck of the draw on whether you get top quality "first strikes". I see some eBayers advertise mint sets and ASE's as "first strikes"....merely because they purchased right away....is there any credibility in that thinking?
So, after receiving my 10 2003 UNCIRC mint sets today, I immediately opened them for inspection. Of the 10 sets I received, I could only put together 6 sets that I thought were of good quality. I am immediately sending four sets back for a refund. Replacement is not an option as I do not want to get on the merry-go-round of getting more poor quality sets.
The common problems I found were rim dings, significant scratches and dings on the fields and devices and a couple Lincolns were terrible, pictures posted. Would the Lincoln be considered an error, with any value?
I would like to hear comments from others of their results from inspecting their mint sets/products.
it also raises a question.....Is it better to order coins from the mint as soon as they are released, or is it merely luck of the draw on whether you get top quality "first strikes". I see some eBayers advertise mint sets and ASE's as "first strikes"....merely because they purchased right away....is there any credibility in that thinking?
0
Comments
1) Very visible tick
2) Large hazy smudge
3) Small black spot
4) Hazy smudge
All 4 went back, asking for replacement. If only one of the 4 had a small flaw, I wouldn't bother with a return, but all 4--they going back!
the course of the year in any meaningful or predictable way. The first day strikes will
be better but these will not necessarily be shipped first. The best coins do tend to be
made consecutively and then shipped to the same zip codes (or at least they used to),
but this will be impossible to locate until the sets have been out a while.
While these coins are struck at slower speeds the dies still wear out quickly enough
that for the main part one day's production will look like nearly any other day's.
Varieties will "bunch up" much more. These will tend to be made over a brief period and
shipped together.
There has always been a lot of quality variation in the post 1967 sets and some will con-
tain nearly all gems while others will have all junk. In the past it was a good idea to wait
until these had been out for a few years before searching for the nicer sets since it gave
dealers a chance to acquire substantial quantitis to look at and the price usually came down
as dealer stocks grew. This doesn't seem to work anymore (since '95). The sets are resold
nearly as fast as they trickle onto the market and one rarely sees significant accumulations
available at any sort of discount to market. In any case he market price has been very high
for these more recent sets.
Not only will you find that some sets are clearly inferior but you'll also find that some of the
individual coins in these sets are nearly always of poor quality. Look at he quarters in the
1969 mint sts for instance. This can be critical for some of the moderns since some are quite
scarce in rolls.
of the production. The 3-pc '76 set is the exception. The mint reinterpreted the
authorization law for these coins at the last minute and came to believe they had
to strike the entire authorized mintage. With so little time they ran off many millions
of these obn high speed presses and stored them in barrels for many years. These
sets are in all cases of inferior quality to the earlier sets and are packaged a little
differently (they have no white band on one side of the package). These were sold
in very small quantity and have a much higher attrition rate than the better coins.
The bulk of hese were destroyed around 1983.