Came yesterday and thought I would post a couple quick pictures. I still haven't gotten over the Mint dropping the ball on the 09 ASE's proofs so I really do not feel like bragging about these coins. Overall they are not bad. I was glad to see that both nickels have all of the steps intact with no hits. There are a few hits here and there on a number of coins and one of the dimes has brown spotting on the reverse. The rims on many of the coins have a bunch of dings which I guess I should expect from this set. On a scale of 1 to 10 I would give the sets an 8.5. The satin finish on the cents is not as deep as I expected but they look okay. Not really unhappy with the purchase but not really impressed either. Not sure if the pictures are good enough to really judge for yourself but here they are.
its real tough to get real good quality coins on the mint sets. I think that for the most part, the coins are all way under what they are supossed to be... and i also agree... the 09 silver proofs being absent from my collection is a big downer!
I am visiting one of the mints next month and now I feel like I will have a bit of a tainted view. Should be interesting to see how I come away feeling after the visit. Plan to do a write up and cover as much as I can get to paper after the visit. They do not let you bring much in so I will have to have a plan for questions and what I hope to learn.
is there a reason why the pennies and quarters are facing one way and the rest of the coins the other?
My guess is because some marketing person thought they look better this way. IMO - They should invest more in Quality Assurance and Inventory Management.
I ordered 4 sets yesterday, I hope that they are as nice as the ones you have taken photos of. 1 for me and 3 for some other guys at work, I spose from my experience that 4-6 weeks is normal for delivery of mail orders. so I should see them by thanksgiving at the latest.
Yeah that flipping of the obverse and reverse on some coins looks wonky to me too. I absolutely agree with the Mint's lack of quality controls. If they improve that area, even a little, and stop cutting releases they will gain a lot more respect from the collectors.
