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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;cladking, post: 869668, member: 68&quot;]1965 was a very very long year for coin collectors.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>It really started in 1961 as mintages started creeping higher and the FED was releasing reports that it couldn&#039;t continue minting silver coin indefinitely at such high production levels.&nbsp; They had only a couple billion ounces of silver and it was consumed at about 60,000,000 ounces in 1961 alone.&nbsp; From here it seemed to feed on itself and the higher the mintages went the more the public hoarded.&nbsp; By 1963 it seemed like a foregone conclusion that silver was going to be discontinued in circulation.&nbsp; 1964 dawned very bleak. It was not only that roll and set collection was in high gear and everything of any value was gone from circulation but they were experimenting&nbsp; with new alloys and screaming to Congress for help.&nbsp; They got permission to freeze the 1964 date in the autumn in the belief this would discourage collectors.&nbsp; This was no help because collectors weren&#039;t the problem.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>Then 1965 hit and the end of the world numismatically.&nbsp; There was the coinage act of 1965 which changed the composition to a cheap knockoff and a brand new date freeze.&nbsp; If this weren&#039;t bad enough they also stopped mint marks and all types of mint sets.&nbsp; Congressed even had a bill pending that would outlaw collecting new coins.&nbsp; Unsurprisingly the market collapsed.&nbsp; Soon the silver started disappearing and then the FED started yanking it out from mid-&#039;68 to mid-&#039;69.&nbsp; But it was mid 1966 before &#039;66 coins went into production and by the end of 1968 there was almost nothing in circulation other than a bunch of &#039;65 to &#039;67 coinage in AU-Unc condition.&nbsp; Most of it was abysmal quality since they were just cranking out coins to relieve the shortage and no one cared about quality.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>It was a bad time to be a collector but I&#039;d go back and do it right if I could.&nbsp; There were lots of rare coins and mules and they could be found then with effort.&nbsp; </p><p><br /></p><p>In a lot of ways 1965 didn&#039;t end until 1999 for the hobby in general.&nbsp; It took this long before anyone cared about new coins again.&nbsp; For a lot of collectors it&#039;s never going to really end.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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