How much more do proof coins worth than their normal versions?

"Apples and oranges" might just be applicable here too, I believe.

 

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I can't think of a single MS 69 business strike where it's proof version is worth more with US coins. Using half dollars an an example the first MS 69 business strike graded half by PCGS is the 1992 D Kennedy and there are only two of those. The 2014-D has over half of all MS 69 business halfs and there is only 24 of those. MS 69 business halfs just simply don't exist. Yes you can get MS 69 modern commemorative halfs and they have 9 for the entire classic commemorative half series but I wouldn't classify those as business strikes

 

That is my point! Mint production of proof coins has become so good that the PF69 is commonplace but the business strike in MS69, which comes into contact with many other coins in the production process, is very rare.

Chris

 

You have got it right, the proof coins get special care & treatment when being made. So the result is a coin in better shape or condiation than a business strike coin. If you get an MS67 BS coin you are very fortunate.

 

This is all somewhat confusing to me. Aren't there in fact specially struck "uncirculated" halves as well as regular "business strike" halves, the ones that come in annual Uncirculated Mint Sets, and wouldn't those make it into a collector's possession without being touched by other coins since they're in protective holders?

 

This isn't true! The only Mint Sets that were "handled with kid gloves" were the Satin Mint Sets, but the Mint gave up on this process. This is just my opinion, but I think they did because the dies for the Satin Mint Sets just didn't last long enough. Yes, there are still some coins that have a special finish, but they are not intended for circulation.

Chris

 

O.k., I just went over the U.S. Mint's web site frontwards and backwards repeatedly and read and re-read everything they had to say about their production of what they call their "Uncirculated" as opposed to their "Circulating" coinage. They state explicitly, unequivocally and literally without fail every time that they so much as mention their "Uncirculated" coinage in any context that this coinage differs entirely in a qualitative manner from their "Circulating" coinage by virtue of each and every one of their "Uncirculated" coins receiving both more careful, i.e. special handling by the employees and by the substantially increased amount of pressure applied to the planchets when they stamp out their "Uncirculated" coins.

 

Aside from the specially made satin ones the quality in the sets on average isn't anything special. Not every top graded ones came from one and there certainly are some dud coins in the mint sets.

 

Well, I'm certainly not going to argue with anyone here, but I am still perplexed by the difference between what the mint says (please refer to my post two comments back - #107) and what on the other hand I am hearing from some people here. What does this all mean?

 

Sorry, I got a little mixed up in posting my reply; it's #107 in this thread. Thanks!

 

Just means the marketing department is better than the quality control lol. I actually won't buy mint sets from the mint anymore. I've had to many quality control issues and just prefer to get one on the after market if I want it.

 

Now, at last, I think I DO understand. The Mint DOES make a special "uncirculated" product that they market separately and differently from their intended-for-circulation coinage, but apparently experience has shown collectors that this highly-touted "uncirculated" coinage IS NOT very much, if in fact AT ALL, in reality superior in quality to the intended-for-circulation product.

 

Better is relative. The average coin in a mint set is likely better than an average coin out of a bag but with either you have to search to find upper MS grades generally. Quality varies series to series/mint to mint/year to year.

 

As a longtime cosmology buff I'm deep into relativity, so I get the importance of that. Thanks for the further explanation; much appreciated!

 

As @baseball21 suggested, it's all in the "hype". When I was actively buying bags of business strike Kennedy half dollars and SQ's from the Mint, I submitted dozens to NGC that graded MS68, and I made a very nice profit from them. Yes, it does take time and experience to be able to sort through all of them for the best specimens, and the result will save you a heck of a lot of money by not buying the "special sets" that the Mint claims to produce.

Chris

 

I use to buy everything the MINT offered, especially the mint set coins. Then when I started looking very close at what I was getting I saw tears in the package, coins with dings on them from other coins. So I stopped buying from the mint, started searching for what I wanted at coin shops, shows, and the general public. Then later found some things on line. No one or anything is perfect, we collectors do the best we can with what we have.

 

I am sure yours is very sound and well-thought-out advice, but some which I would much more likely have been inclined to follow in my more industrious-minded younger years. At seventy I really have don't have either the drive nor the energy and hence also not the inclination to engage in the kind of ambitious coin "processing" that you are clearly quite willing to pursue as a means to an end and which as a result of have rather obviously become quite the expert. I, in the meantime, will be happy to content myself with keeping the Mint itself busy as a loyal if lazy consumer of their "special sets", the acquisition of which is demonstrably quick and easy and therefore right up this here old coot's alley. That being said and nevetheless, thanks again for the info; always much appreciated.

 

at 70 I was still working full time, trying to support my coin collecting. Now here at 85 I am still collecting but gave up working. it got to hard getting up early in the morning to go to work. Still looking for all those great deals out there some I find them sometimes I don't. You folks have a great day, I am.

 

Bless you, brother, still chugging away at 85...that is exceedingly impressive! I stopped working seventeen years ago as I was approaching a second heart attack, and since I just got by the first one five years earlier by the skin of my teeth and thanks to the wonders of modern medicine and some amazing, wonderful caregivers, my doctor felt it was way past time for me to stop tempting fate, especially since I had one of the most high-pressure positions imaginable and the tension in the workplace was getting ever higher and worse. So here I am now just trying to make the best of each and every day, and a recently re-invigorated part of that is my learning how to enjoy the world of coin collecting more fully by gleaning every bit of knowledge I can about all the various ins and outs of this particularly fascinating hobby. And by the way, it's very nice to meet you, Dawg!

 

Well like I tell my wife "if I knew I was going to live this long I would have taken better care of myself". I have never had a heart attack but at 77 I did have open heart surgery to replace a bad valve. When they opened me up they found my aorta was ready to burst. They got everything fixed & repaired but could no revive me, laying there for 4 days
there