In 1965, 1966 and 1967, the mint issued Special Mint Sets instead of Proof Sets. The price guides all list MS coins with much higher prices than SMS coins with corresponding dates and numerical grades. This makes me ask the hypothetical question, if the coins from these SMS were broken out of their original plastic holders (inadvertently or intentionally) and submitted a TPG as circulation coins, would they be graded as MS, or would the graders know that they were actually SMS coins and grade them as SMS?
The strike quality of the SMS coins is a lot better, so it shouldn't be too hard for a pro to differentiate.
They could tell the difference. SMS coins are higher quality than business strikes, so it would be kind of like trying to pass off early proof coins as normal MS specimens.
Yes, they have higher quality strikes. Remember, these SMS coins were produced instead of proofs during those years. Even though they don't quite have the same qualities as a proof, they are similar in many ways and easy to distinguish from a normal business strike.
There have been more than a few cases where NGC and PCGS mistakenly attributed coins as SMS coins as MS, and MS coins as SMS. So no, even the pros cannot always tell them apart. About the only time you can tell them apart for certain is if the coins are cameo.
In my experience the strikes got progressively better from 1965 thru 1967. That's not to say there aren't excellent 1965 strikings but finding cameo 65s is a struggle.
I also think that part of the improved strike was due to hub replacement. I don't know about other series, but the Jefferson Nickel got a new reverse hub in 67 and I know that the Lincoln Cent got a new Obverse hub in 1969 (I understand, too late for SMS, but it was still a hub replacement in that same era.)
Because of the way the dies were produced. And it's not considered a proof set.....the designation is 'special mint set'.
True, but there's a bit more to it than that. For years before the mint had sold annual Mint Sets (business strikes) and annual Proof Sets (Proof strikes). But in '65 they stopped selling both. Instead they sold what they called Special Mint Sets. This name was to differentiate the sets from the Mint Sets and Proofs Sets of previous years, decades really. The mint was attempting to change what they offered to collectors. But after 2 years of the SMS sets and more complaints than they had ever had, the mint decided to go back to the way it was. They were too far along to produce Mint Sets and Proof Sets in '67 so they went ahead and produced the SMS in '67. But by '68 things were back to normal.
well, some of us just read about it instead of living it, Doug I'd love to hear your first-hand accounts on the Spanish Inquisition when you have time
