It used to be that when the United States Mint described a coin as having an "Uncirculated" finish, everyone knew what the Mint meant. That's not necessarily the case anymore.
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Images courtesy of HeritageAuctions.com. The two-coin Kennedy set incorporated what the U.S. Mint called an Uncirculated 1998-S Robert F. Kennedy silver dollar, above right, and a Matte Finish 1998-S John F. Kennedy silver half dollar. The Mint marketed the coins with different descriptive terms for the finish on the half dollar and silver dollar, even though the finish on both coins is identical.
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Uncirculated bullion images by Coin World / burnished Uncirculated images courtesy of U.S. Mint. The U.S. Mint offers two different versions of the Uncirculated American Eagle coins in all three metals: gold, silver and platinum. The Uncirculated bullion coin, with no Mint mark, shown at top, is valued daily based on the rise or fall in precious metals prices. The Uncirculated silver American Eagle with W Mint mark, shown in bottom photos, is struck on the same planchet as the bullion coin except that the planchet is burnished with steel pellets before striking.
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Jefferson 5-cent images courtesy of HeritageAuctions.com. Starting in 2005, each coin in what the Mint refers to as its Uncirculated Coin set, but that the hobby calls an Uncirculated Mint set, has been struck with a Satin Finish, including the 2005-P Jefferson, American Bison 5-cent coin, shown, at left. Shown in contrast is a circulation-quality Uncirculated 2008 Lincoln cent.
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The possible confusion results from the Mint's promotion of coins in a wide range of series as having an "Uncirculated" finish, when "Uncirculated" can represent finishes as disparate as that found on a coin made for circulation and the matte surfaces found on commemorative silver dollars.
In one sense of the word, "Uncirculated" represents a condition; specifically, it describes a coin that shows no signs of circulation wear.
In the other sense of the word, "Uncirculated" has been used by the Mint to describe a particular finish found on a coin.
In this latter sense, the term "Uncirculated" traditionally had been most often used to describe the finish found on regular issue coins freshly struck for circulation in commerce or for inclusion in the annual Uncirculated Mint set. Since the 1980s, when the Mint began selling commemorative coins and bullion coins, the term "Uncirculated" has been used to describe more than one kind of finish.
The most recent confusion associated with the term "Uncirculated" came in 2006 when the Mint abruptly stopped using the term to describe the finish on the bullion versions of its American Eagles (it had used the term for those coins for two decades) and limited the word's use in that program to describe new "Uncirculated" collector versions.
Circulation issues
Coins that are struck for circulation are produced at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints on coinage presses that are capable of striking up to 750 coins per minute using a single pair of dies positioned horizontally.
After the coins are struck, counted and bagged, they are shipped to Federal Reserve Banks and armored carrier coin terminals, which then distribute them through participating banks that order the coins through the Federal Reserve.
These circulation-quality coins are considered to have an Uncirculated finish. The coins cease to be considered "Uncirculated" (in the grading sense of the word) when circulation wear begins to appear on the high points of the designs.
Collector sets
At the top of the list of special sets under the Uncirculated umbrella is the annual Uncirculated Mint set.
The sets comprise one of each coin denomination struck at the Philadelphia and Denver Mints that were intended for circulation, although the sets have contained, in some years, coins that were not issued for circulation.
The Mint first began offering annual Uncirculated Mint sets in 1948 (first sets with 1947 coins, then sets with 1948 coins).
For most of the existence of annual Uncirculated Mint sets, the coins in the sets were identical to the coins issued for circulation and were indistinguishable. They were struck under the same conditions and bore the same finish.
Then, more recently, the Mint took a little more care, both in the preparation of the dies and the planchets, so that the coins in the Uncirculated Mint sets were a little nicer than the coins issued for circulation. For those sets, the coins are struck on coinage presses that operate at a slower speed and different tonnage of pressure to produce Uncirculated coins for the sets. The Uncirculated finish on the coins in Uncirculated Mint sets from this period is of a higher quality and uniformity than the finish on the coins struck for use in circulation.
A major change in the finish used on the coins in Uncirculated Mint sets occurred starting in 2005. The Uncirculated Mint set coins, beginning with those coins for that year's set and continuing thereafter, bear a Satin Finish. The Satin Finish is the result of additional die and planchet preparation.
The U.S. Mint, in 1965, 1966 and 1967, issued no Proof sets, but instead what were referred to as Special Mint sets. The coins in these sets also received special care in the preparation of the dies and planchets. These coins, too, are generally considered to be Uncirculated strikes.
Commemoratives
From 1892 to 1954, the Mint produced a series of silver and gold commemorative coins authorized by Congress. Although a few rare Proof pieces were produced for some coins, almost all of the coins were struck with an Uncirculated finish, produced on the same presses and planchets as used for the circulating versions of the same denominations, and thus having the same finish as on regular coins of the same denominations struck for circulation.
Since United States commemorative coins production resumed in 1982 and continuing to the present, the coins have been issued in both Proof and Uncirculated versions.
The Proof versions of the commemorative releases are those where the planchets have been highly polished, along with the die's fields. Raised devices are given a frosted appearance. The contrast between frosted devices and polished fields gives the Proof coins a cameo effect.
The Uncirculated versions of the commemorative and bullion coins appear with a flatter or duller appearance compared to the Proofs. The commemorative and bullion Uncirculated finish has been employed since the beginning of both programs in the 1980s, according to the U.S. Mint. This special Uncirculated finish is quite different than the finish found on Uncirculated silver commemorative coins struck from 1892 to 1954.
The term "Uncirculated" became somewhat confusing in 1998 when the San Francisco Mint produced a special two-coin set as part of the Robert F. Kennedy commemorative silver dollar program.
The set contains an Uncirculated 1998-S RFK silver dollar and a Matte Finish 1998-S John F. Kennedy silver half dollar that was only available in the sets offered for sale during the first six weeks of the commemorative coin program.
When Coin World queried the U.S. Mint in 1998 as to what the difference was between the finish of the Uncirculated RFK silver dollar and the Matte Finish JFK silver half dollar, the answer was that the finish was exactly the same, despite the Mint's deliberate use of two different descriptive terms for the finish.
Precious metals releases
Nowhere has the term "Uncirculated" become more convoluted than when discussing the Uncirculated gold, silver and platinum America Eagle coins.
When the U.S. Mint introduced the American Eagle coin program in the fall of 1986 with the gold and silver coins, two kinds of coins were available: Proof coins and bullion coins. The U.S. Mint referred to the bullion coins as Uncirculated.
During this period, the Uncirculated American Eagles were strictly the bullion issues, which are traded daily and are valued on the daily price of the precious metals they contain. The Proof American Eagle silver coins from 1986 through 2008 were produced at three different Mints with three different Mint marks, while the gold Proof Eagles were struck at two facilities. From 1986 through 1992, the silver Proof Eagles were struck at the San Francisco Mint with the S Mint mark. From 1993 through 2000, the silver Proofs were produced at the Philadelphia Mint with the P Mint mark.A second silver Proof Eagle was struck in 1995 at the West Point Mint with the W Mint mark for inclusion in a special set honoring the 10th anniversary of the Eagle program.
Proof silver Eagle production moved exclusively to the West Point Mint in 2001. Gold 1-ounce Proof Eagles have been struck at the West Point Mint exclusively since 1986. The half-ounce gold Proofs were struck at the Philadelphia Mint from 1987 through 1994, then moved to West Point in 1995. Quarter-ounce and tenth-ounce gold Proof Eagles were struck at Philadelphia with P Mint mark from 1988 to 1994. Beginning in 1995, production moved to West Point.
From 1986 to 2000, Uncirculated American Eagle gold and silver bullion coins were produced at the Philadelphia, San Francisco and West Point Mints, sometimes at more than one location in the same year. In 2001, all American Eagle production was moved to the West Point Mint.
Proof American Eagle platinum coins with a W Mint mark, as well as Uncirculated American Eagles platinum bullion coins without a Mint mark, have been produced at the West Point Mint since their introduction in 1997. Uncirculated American Eagle platinum coins with a W Mint mark have been struck at the West Point Mint since 2006.
While the Uncirculated American Eagle bullion coins in gold, silver and platinum have all been exclusively struck at the West Point Mint since 2001, they do not bear the W Mint mark. In 2006, Mint officials introduced a new, collectors' series of American Eagle gold and silver coins, and in doing so, abruptly abandoned its use of "Uncirculated" to describe the finish on the bullion coins. The new coins, termed "Uncirculated," bear the W Mint mark of the West Point Mint.
The Uncirculated gold and silver issues with the Mint mark were released in 2006, the platinum in 2007. The Uncirculated platinum coins were issued during the 10th anniversary of the release for the first platinum Proof and Uncirculated bullion coins.
With the release of the Uncirculated 2006-W American Eagle gold and silver coins, the Mint stopped referring to the bullion coins as "Uncirculated," the term the Mint had used for the bullion versions since their introduction in 1986. The Mint instead began promoting the bullion coins as "American Eagle Bullion Coins."
The Uncirculated American Eagle bullion coins and the Uncirculated American Eagles with W Mint marks are struck using the same planchets, although the Mint-marked coins are struck on planchets that are burnished by being tumbled with steel pellets. As a result, you will see in some numismatic publications the W Mint-marked Uncirculated coins referred to as Burnished Uncirculated, but you won't find Mint officials calling them that.
