was there a time in 2005 when the satin mint sets first came out that the 2005 satin ms coins were not labeled "satin" on the (PCGS) slab? I ask because I saw a 2005 dime that looked satin but the PCGS slab did not indicate "satin."
Not sure, but I know for a fact PCGS (and probably NGC too) sometimes slabs a satin coin in a regular holder by accident. It's not always easy to tell the satin vs. regular I guess, especailly in really high grades. Also, could just be an unfortunate labeling error.
It really doesn't have much to do with the slab. It has more to do with the coins themselves, epsecially those early ones. There are a large number of the satin finish Mint Set coins that do not have a satin finish at all. Take the coin direct from a sealed box from the mint, and it sometimes could not be distinguished at all from a business strike. Yet, they were labeled as satin finish because they cam from the sealed box so there was no question. But - break those same coins out of the sets and submit them, and they often came back labeled as business strikes. It was and may still be, a quality issue, nothing more. The satin finish is due to die preparation and it soon wears off. Let the mint use the dies just a bit too long, and the satin finish is very faint or gone completely. So it would be all too easy for the TPG to not identify a given coin as having the satin finish. But it would not be a mistake on their part. It is because there is no satin finish. That said, yes labeling errors do happen. But for this particular case, it far more likely the former.
But in the future, if it become a common consideration that you have to have both business strike and satin finish to have a "complete" set, those non-satin mint set pieces are going to be commanding big money. Why? Because it is very hard to get top grade business strike coins. But since the mintset coins are struck at lower speeds and higher pressures they tend to come in much better condition. So it is MUCH easier to pass off a common non-satin mint set coin as a very rare high grade business strike. All you have to do is get it into a slab without the Satin Finish label.
Reminds me of the time I submitted a South Dakota state quarter I received in change from the grocery store to PCGS. It was a nice clean coin, which I submitted in a small plastic baggie on which I put "circulation strike" with a magic marker. It cam back MS65 SATIN FINISH on the PCGS label! Go Figure...
