Current U.S. Proof Coin Manufacturing

Anyone else disappointed by current proof coins from the U.S. mint? I really wish they would return to earlier methods instead of laser treatment to the dies. Although the previous method from 2008 and earlier required more manual work on the dies, it produced a much higher quality product.

The recent issue of The Numismatist really exhibits how much detail we have lost on the devices of the coins due to the cheaper employed laser methods.



Here's another example of Liberty on the AGE (1999 vs. 2019). Lady Liberty is now grainy and lacks relief.

 

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I concur.

 

I agree as well. I guess they save money but they keep raising prices.

 

I quit buying from the mint 2 or 3 years ago. Too much junk.

 

It seems like way too many companies are giving us consumers lower-quality products for higher prices. It makes me kind of sad, I'd love to buy some of these things but they make it evident that they don't care about their customers.

 

Absolutely. They call it laser frosting, I call it laser pebbles. They both sound like breakfast cereals, and the devices produced using this technique look like something you'd find at the bottom of a cereal box.

 

I absolutely HATE the frosted versions of proof coins made today vs the proof coins of decades ago. Everything about a proof coin that made me want to collect them has been ruined by this frosted method.

 

Your basic coin collector wants a proof to be a fine example of the current production. Then there are those collectors that are competing for the highest grade, mirror finish, reverse proof and all. All of these classifications are attempts to make prettier coins. Not for me.

 

The budget has the say so. I primarily stick to pre 1982 cents and pre 1970 silver and other precious metals. I believe it is a safer bet for our heirs and I can enjoy them while I'm alive. Cover the mint coins with chocolate and sell them as candy!

 

The mint keeps raising prices because as their quality goes down so does the number of their customers. I can buy any of their products in the after market at lower prices if I want them.

 

Exactly why I quit selling my extra sets. I can't get what I paid for them. So, I will continue to give them to grandchildren and great grandchildren.

 

Exactly! I stopped buying about the same time you did I think. Just not worth the cost. After market is lower priced and the sets are still sealed.

 

The contrast of the "frosted" devices makes a dramatic first impression but doesn't measure up to the the traditional proofs, as shown in the OP's closeup photos, IMHO.

 

One of the reasons I'm in this hobby is that I'm nearsighted. I can focus on small details better than most people my age. On current US proofs, it's not as rewarding as it should be.

 

The worst examples of this I have seen were on the Star Spangled Banner $5 gold coins, about a decade ago. The frosted devices were really grainy, like a beach sand surface.

And all of this for higher and higher prices.

 

When you took the pictures above, what was the magnification you looked through in comparison? I don't doubt your representation. I'm 75 and I would like to see for myself the difference. I compared a 2019 One Ounce AGE Proof and a 2016 One Ounce AGE Proof and it seemed to me that they were both a little grainy. I don't buy much gold, but I would like to get the best available, especially with the price "going to the moon". Was it a gradual change or did they change equipment between 2018 and 2019 or higher? Have there been any publications or articles about the Mint's degradation of their gold coins?
Thank you for the work you did on the changes in the gold coin's production. At my age, I don't have the tolerance or patience you "young whippersnappers" in doing investigative work.

 

Convince the mint to offer both frosted proof coins and unfrosted proofs as an option. The difference in sales would kill the hideous laser defacing. It’s the only way they’ll ever acknowledge the problem. But it won’t happen.

Rick L.

 

Jim, unfortunately you're comparing two coins both minted well after the degradation of the Mints proof minting process. You shouldn't see much difference between the '16 and the '19 you're comparing. The Mint lost sight of QC long before those years. Between 2008 and 2009 the biggest drop in quality occurred according to the very first picture in the first post.

If you take note of the OP'ers second picture in the first post he's comparing AGE's 1999 vs 2019. Those years are each representative of the quality of the proof minting processes during each year. The degraded proof minting process is blatantly obvious without magnification in that picture.

 

I am too, but no longer buy from the mint. The new "style" isn't a good look.

Bruce

 

Is a 1969 Canada dime silver?