So I am so sorry if this sounds like a dumb question.. I know that there is a difference in the Satin coins.. but.. the only difference in a business strike and the uncirculated coin sets is that the business stike was put in a bag and sent to N.F.String.. right? I just ask since I have a few coin sets with coins that may have a few worth sending in for grade.. I love those high grade business strike coins!
While that is one of the differences it is not the only difference. The satin finish coins have a satin finish - business strikes do not. Satin finish coins are struck with higher pressures than business strikes. Satin finish coins undergo special handling to help prevent contact marks, they are not just dumped into giant hoppers and then bags like busines strikes. The dies used to strike the satin finish coins are not used as long as the satin dies are. And the dies and the planchets for the satin coins undergo special preparations before they are struck. All of these things combined result in a higher quality product. That's why so many of the satin finish coins are graded so high. Before their introduction, MS69's were almost unheard of. Now they are common.
But what about .. say 1999 Mint set Dime.. Would that be the same strike as a business strike dime from '99.. I know the Bag and machine roll does affect the coin. so want a high business grade and was thinking I could use a mint set.. Thanks for the info..
The satin finish coins were only introduced in 2005. So all Mint Sets issued before that are different. That said, there was a time when the coins in the Mint Sets were merely taken from the regular business strikes, placed in set holders and sold as Mint Sets. I can't tell you the exact year that changed, but I think it was in the '80s. Maybe Conder or cladking knows the exact year. Then the mint changed things. Mint Set coins began to receive more careful handling, special washing of the planchets, they were struck in special presses, at slower rates, and at higher pressures than business strikes. So again, even though they could not be told apart from the business strikes, they were not the same as the business strikes. And typically the highest graded examples came from Mint Sets for those years.
Cladking would be the best person to know exacly when they stopped just putting regular business strikes in the mint sets. I also believe it was in the 1980's but not the exact year.
Have you ever looked at the Matte Proofs of the early coins and then looked at the New Satin finished coins of today? The die are finished differently from all the others. Poofs, Matte, Satins, Uncs. The pressure used are different, and the number of strikes used. -O)
So this is how PCGS or NGC can tell that a 1999D Dime is from a Mint set and not a business strike I would guess.????? even more reason for me to hold onto my bank rolls and look for those higher grade gems...
I changed the word satin to regular in the quote above. I understood what you said, but wanted to be sure it wasn't misinterpreted.
Truthfully, they can't tell the difference. Typically, the higher grade business strike coins (prior to 2005) came from Mint Sets. But even though they received a little "extra" in the way of special treatment, they are indistinguishable from circulation strikes, and therefore PCGS, NGC, or other TPGs can't tell the difference. A 1999 coin from a Mint Set will get the same slab and grade if as if it had come from a circulation roll, even if you sent it in the Mint Package (which you can't). The original discussion centered around the 1996-W dime, which although struck as a regular "type" circulation strike and placed in the Mint Set with all of the other circulation strike coins of that year, was available only in the Mint Set and so can be distinguished simply because it has a W mint mark. Even still, no notation is made on the slabs, even for the 1996-W.
