The term brilliant, what does it mean in context of US coins? I've seen it used as a general description for uncirculated coins. I've also seen it to describe the finish of the coin. Brilliant being the standard coin finish rather than satin or proof finishes.
Just as you said it is used to describe the finish and it is used with both business strikes and Proofs. It is also used to indicate that a coin is uncirculated, as in BU.
I find its use in BU as being meaningless. BU or uncirculated are identical, so in that instance "Brilliant" is simply sales puffery. For coins, brilliant is as opposed to matte finish. Brilliant simply means the dies are polished, as opposed to being intentionally applied a different finish.
In most cases yes, but there are unc coins which have super dark toning so it dosn't apply to all coins, just most of them.
Yeah, but it does. BU is the generic term for ANY uncirculated coin. No one will ever be sued for saying a coin is BU and delivering a toned coin.
There are some unc coins and Proof coins where brilliant does not apply, but it's never because the coins are toned or not. It's because they have a different kind of finish. For example, there are Proofs and unc coins both that have a matte or satin finish, and brilliant is not applied to those coins. Think of this way, brilliant is a method of manufacture just as matte and satin are methods of manufacture.
Yes sir, you are correct. They are so rare though, especially uncirculated, that I thought people would know enough about them. Basically 99.99% of all coins ever minted would be classified as "brilliant", its such a high percent that it is assumed.
In my experience, if it's a mail order company, brilliant uncirculated can mean an AU-50 that was polished to give it nice eye appeal from eleven feet away. I learned from my mistakes, and suggest buying anything of value either in person, or from a dealer you trust from previous purchases.
It didn't mean that back in my day........younger man. It meant that the coin was lustrous and booming for the grade. Now whether that fact was fully carried out remains debatable. Hence the advent of TPG'ers.........
I realize that, and I always enjoy reading your posts. There are just so many dishonest people in sales these days, hoping to find that special someone who trusts them. I fortunately learned from my one such purchase.
There are people who know a lot more about this than I. As far as I know, the word "brilliant" means absolutely nothing.
