Jefferson Nickel in a Philly Mint Set...

Some date clads are worse than others but most BU roll coins are OK. Ironically the '82-P is one of the worst. Roll coins rarely if ever get very dark like the mint set coins and just get an unattractive "splotchiness" that is rarely removable at all.

It's the mint set packaging that is the problem and it affects sets from '65 to '80 and later ones to a lesser degree. Poor storage exacerbates it but even sets in safety deposit boxes are affected. Some dates are worse than others and '69 is probably the worst of all though for percentage of sets affected '70 might lead the way.

Nickels are a little more stable and more likely to clean up OK. Cents run the gamut from almost all of them being destroyed ('68-P) to few of them being affected at all ('90-D). Right now all the later dates ('86 to date) may seem stable but I believe they will be next.

Right now there are some coins that for most practical purposes don't exist in mint sets because they are ugly in sets ('84 cent) or they have almost all gone bad ('68 cent). But most of the tarnished coins can be saved. Unfortunately it's the worst coins and the Gem PL's that are least likely to be saved. Others range from about 50 to 60% unsalvageable to less than 1%. '68 dimes are one oif the worst. Most of these weren't that pretty to start with but the tarnish seems to be virtually "absorbed" by the porous surfaces.

These sets are disappearing at a breakneck pace right now and i have the sense that not enough are being stabilized. I also have the sense that the of the vast number of sets that have already been destroyed few of the coins were ever saved. The sets were destroyed largely to get the half dollars and dollars from them and the rest of the coins merely spent.

 

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It probably should be pointed out that there are virtually no BU rolls of eagle reverse clad quarters in existence. People didn't save them. When you see a BU roll advertised it will almost invariably be a mint set roll.

Far more '83 rolls were saved than other dates and they go for hundreds of dollars because they are the only source for the date.

 

My question is. How did the Jefferson "S" get into a Philly Mint set? Did the Philly mint call up San Fransico mint and say..."Hey, can you send us a Jefferson to put in our mint sets?"

I am thinking that the Philly mint, also mints coins with the "S" mark as well. Why else would you see coins with "S" over "D" and visa-versa?

In the 1880's you can find Morgans with "O" over "CC". What did New Orleans do in 1884? Get on their cell phone and ask the Carson City mint and say...send us some CC mint coins?

How did Carson City respond? Yeah, I'll drop-ship the dies to you tomorrow via FedEx!

 

IN 69 there was both a S mint business strike and a S mint proof strike. The UC sets provided the collector with every business strike made for the year.

As far as the OMM. Philly at the time made all the dies and sent them out to the different mints. If Orleans needed a die to finish their production, yes they would contact another mint and find who ever had an extra die pair. They then would do their best to remove the wrong MM and punch in their own to finish production.
Their are 5 OMM's D/S MM for the 38 D Buffalo Nickel.

 

So, here is the pictures of the coins after they have been cut out and cleaned with just a special rag that doesn't leave scratches. I will post a different one on this thread several times a day until all coins have been posted.

So I took a picture in the cellophane, then out of the cellophane, then cleaned with a rag, then in its slab. However, I ran out of slabs for my quarters...so I will have to buy more.

Side note: I just got a new iPhone that was supposed to be better for pictures than my last iPhone 8. But this new iPhone with 3-cameras sucks!

Here is the first one...1969 D Washinton Quarter.

In Cellophane...


Out of the Cellophane...


Cleaned with a rag...


Like I said...my old iPhone 8 took better pictures.

 

Here is the next coin in the set...

In Cellophane...


Out of Cellophane...


Cleaned with a Rag...


Slabbed...

 

That's about as bad as the denver comes in the mint set.

The Philly looks fairly nice but it's hard to tell under the tarnish.

I'd be hesitant to use a microfiber cloth on them but I do use one sometimes very lightly with dish detergent as a lubrication.

 

Sometimes coins made at other mints don't use a mint mark at all so they can be mistaken for Phillys. All the '65 to '67 half dollars were made at Denver for circulation but most think they are Philly issues or mixed. San Francisco made the SMS and probably used retired SMS dies to make coins for circulation.

Many times dies for other mints are produced with mint marks at Philly.

'69-S cents were all made at San Francisco for circulation, mint sets, and proof sets. No other cents are known to have been made there that year. The mint set coins were shipped for inclusion in the blue packet. The little blue token specifically says that coins (cents and nickels) made at San Francisco are included in the set. The red packet coins were all made in Denver and have the mint mark.

There are no OMM's and relatively few RPM's in modern coins and even fewer in the mint sets. Ironically the finest of all modern RPM's appears n about 5.5% of the '69 mint sets on the Denver dime. The vertical part of the "D" appears above the MM a little to the right.

 

Here's the next coin in the set...

In Cellophane...


Out of Cellophane...


Cleaned with Rag...


Slabbed...

 

Enough with the rag...........you're gonna hairline everything.

 

Also, the tarnish might come right back when removed in this manner. You can also see every coin still has spotting that will keep it from wholesaling as chBU. It's not worth risking hairlining if it's not even going to save the coin.

I'm not sure what's causing the tarnish but suspect it's the interplay between something left on the coin and moisture. Without a solvent or surfactant the root cause of the problem may remain over protected areas of the surface.

So far all of these coins would be no great loss if they are ruined but the next one can always be a nice Gem.