Difference between uncirculated and mint state? 1932 Panama

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Unfortunate mushy strike there with a baggy appearance. The inner and outer edges of the rims look good - something I always look for. I just would not go for such a coin if there were any alternatives, and I don't know the characteristics of this denomination and date. I note that many of the Balboa figures from the 30s look rather poorly and are responsible for many graded in the AU range even though they may be like this coin & possibly technically mint state.

 

It is slightly muted on the lustre. I would call your coin Au. To much pocket rub to be a slider.

 

"Uncirculated" and "mint state" both refer to the same thing - a coin without circulation wear.

 

So a coin could be " mint state " despite having been in circulation. Or with a couple of marks and yet may have not been in circulation?

 

See this is where the fundamental difference of opinion comes in. IMO wear is wear, regardless if it happens before or after a coin leaves the mint. I also am of the opinion that the "cabinet friction" pass on wear is BS. Call me strict if you will, but I judge condition based on actual observed wear. The context in which it happened is irrelevant.

 

I think it's MS, too, because nothing is really crisp on it, and that attribute is uniform throughout the coin.

 

Hard to say one term is better than the other, when used correctly they refer to two entirely different things!

 

Only in a lay sense, not in a numismatic sense. In the numismatic sense, they mean the same, exact thing: a coin with no evidence of circulation wear on the face of the coin. In the lay sense, if you got that coin from McDonald's, you got it in circulation, and hence it's circulated. In the numismatic sense, we're concerned about one thing, the physical condition of the coin, i.e., the state of preservation of the coin from the moment it left the Mint. That's what we're assessing. That's what we call the coin's "technical grade." In so doing, we could care less whether some detective tracked it down to some cash register somewhere, or where we got it from.

 

When I'm trolling through modern coin listings on Ebay, those with UNC / Uncirculated, are literally uncirculated modern coins straight from mint. I've only seen maybe one or two pre-decimal Australian listings claiming 'uncirculated' (and they were cased and well could be). There is obviously a lot of modern collectors who do like their coins to be 'uncirculated' rather than just in MS and these coins attract premiums of at least 100% and often upwards of 500%!

 

I'm aware of that. And that they're born every minute...

 

Their money also makes the world go around and a lot of us would be out of a job without them.

The world's mints use the term, a ton of modern dealers and collectors use the term: there is demand for the phenomena it describes and hence the term is used - uncirculated is far less subjective than a grading. Don't think there should be any criticism of using uncirculated/UNC to describe a coin/banknote that is indeed uncirculated, though as @lordmarcovan said, using it as a synonym for MS when you aren't aware of the item's progeny is deceptive.

 

No, they don't at all.

 

A coin that is in mint state may or may not be uncirculated, a coin that is uncirculated may or may not be in mint state. Uncirculated refers to a coin's progeny, mint state refers to a coin's condition.

If someone in Ancients describes a 2000 yo coin as being in mint state, are you suggesting they are claiming that the coin is uncirculated?

If differentiating between the two is the realm of the layman, conflating the two is sheer lunacy.

 

You're making this up. "Uncirculated" is a "term of art" referring to a coin with no evidence of circulation wear, i.e., a mint state coin. You're taking your eyes off the coin, and judging it by what you're imagining. Once you do that, that's when the trouble starts.

 

"

1. The term uncirculated coin can refer to three things:
   • A coin that is released to the public but not intended for general circulation (i.e. not used for money although it has an actual value) but is available through a mint or through a local coin dealer. Most Uncirculated coins of this type are either commemorative coins made of gold, silver, or platinum bullion coins (see picture below); actual uncirculated rolls or bags of coins (see next bullet and picture below); special coinage sets; or proof sets (see pictures below).
   • A coin that has been officially graded as in "Mint State 60+";
   • The process by which a coin is made. The U.S. Mint uses this definition for the uncirculated coins that it sells. For uncirculated coins, adjustments to the minting process are made which result in a more satin-like finish. These include using a higher force during coining, the use of fresh dies, and special cleaning.[1]
   References
   U.S. Mint. "The United States Mint - The ANA Coin Grading Scale". Retrieved 18 October 2012.

"

 

What sort of drivel is this?