Burnished Silver Eagles 1 1

[Secret Argent Man]

Hello,
      I have many burnished silver eagles from 2006 to 2020.  All of my earlier (2006, 2007, 2008) burnished silver eagles definitely have a matte / satin like finish on them as compared to my burnished silver eagles minted in 2011 to present which look like bullion coins.

     Being a conspiracy theorist, I am of the opinion that the US Mint simply used bullion blanks and dies with a W mint mark to strike and make so called burnished silver eagles from 2011 to present, and that includes the burnished silver eagles struck in San Francisco in 2011.

     Regardless of my aforementioned ill-founded notion, is there any credence to my belief that something changed in the appearance between the earlier uncirculated burnished silver eagles as compared to the 2011 to present burnished silver eagles?  Does anyone know what the US Mint did or did not do to make newer burnished eagles look like plain jane non-collectable bullion coins?

[VKurtB]

49 minutes ago, Secret Argent Man said:

Hello,
      I have many burnished silver eagles from 2006 to 2020.  All of my earlier (2006, 2007, 2008) burnished silver eagles definitely have a matte / satin like finish on them as compared to my burnished silver eagles minted in 2011 to present which look like bullion coins.

     Being a conspiracy theorist, I am of the opinion that the US Mint simply used bullion blanks and dies with a W mint mark to strike and make so called burnished silver eagles from 2011 to present, and that includes the burnished silver eagles struck in San Francisco in 2011.

     Regardless of my aforementioned ill-founded notion, is there any credence to my belief that something changed in the appearance between the earlier uncirculated burnished silver eagles as compared to the 2011 to present burnished silver eagles?  Does anyone know what the US Mint did or did not do to make newer burnished eagles look like plain jane non-collectable bullion coins?

No deep dark conspiracy, just an improvement of striking technique over time. Perfectly normal. Hey, if they can't get better at this stuff, what's the point, right? The bullion ones kept improving up to the point that the difference between the non-burnished and the burnished started to disappear.

Edited November 13, 2020 by VKurtB

[Secret Argent Man]

Hello VKurtB.  I appreciate your input and the explanation of how improved striking techniques have "closed the gap" between the appearance of the non-burnished and burnished silver eagles. 

[VKurtB]

32 minutes ago, Secret Argent Man said:

Hello VKurtB.  I appreciate your input and the explanation of how improved striking techniques have "closed the gap" between the appearance of the non-burnished and burnished silver eagles. 

De nada, mi amigo. You stated it even more clearly than I did. It’s both striking and die preparation improvements over the life of the series.

Edited November 14, 2020 by VKurtB

[RWB]

The Mint Bureau's "burnished" surface was never technically defined, nor was it stabilized as a fixed die treatment. Hence it is largely meaningless as shown by the variety of the OP's "burnished eagle" surfaces.

[Secret Argent Man]

Hello RWB.  Your statement makes perfect sense to me.  But because newer burnished silver eagles are the same in appearance as compared to a bullion silver eagle, will the burnished eagle lose favor within the numismatic community as a collectable coin?  I guess that only time will tell.  By the way, in your statement you say "variety of OP's".  And being a "Newbie" numismatist, I'm not sure what the abbreviation "OP's" means in your statement.  If you don't mind, please reply and clarify.    Thanks.  

[rocket23]

Just throwing this out there to the op, Burnished coins are called ''satin'' as well.......I agree bullion coins have gotten better in appearance.........to the point where a mint mark is the notable difference in coins.....as for worthiness?! Hell sellers  are getting crazy money for where a coin is made and with zero discernible difference 2015 p ase's and the emergency philly stuff.....I managed a 2016 ''west point mint hoard'' but that coin is graded with a engraved side edge.

[Secret Argent Man]

Hello rocket23.  I agree with your statement that the mint mark, and possibly the grader's label is the only way to tell the difference between a newer ASE burnished coin and a newer ASE bullion coin.  But a mint mark, or grader's label should not be the only way to tell the difference between different types of coins. 

Earlier (2006, 2007, 2008) ASE burnished eagles have a distinctive "satin" appearance to them.  Newer ASE burnished eagles do not.  Here I go again with my conspiracy theory that the mint used bullion blanks and dies with the W mint mark from 2011 to present to strike and produce so call ASE burnished coins.  

Even Ray Charles could see the difference between an ASE bullion coin as compared to a Proof Coin, or a Reverse Proof coin, or an Uncirculated Enhanced Coin.  But put a newer ASE bullion coin next to a newer ASE burnished coin and they look exactly alike. 

Sorry, I just had to get that off my chest.  I guess I'm the only one who has a hang up about this.  Maybe I need to collect the ASE proof coins and reverse proof coins.  At least they do not look like bullion coins.

[Just Bob]

On 11/14/2020 at 9:11 AM, Secret Argent Man said:

.  And being a "Newbie" numismatist, I'm not sure what the abbreviation "OP's" means in your statement.  

"OP" = original poster, or original post. In other words, the person who started the thread, or their opening post.

[Secret Argent Man]

Oh, OK.  I got it now.

Thanks.

[RWB]

On 11/14/2020 at 10:11 AM, Secret Argent Man said:

Hello RWB.  Your statement makes perfect sense to me.  But because newer burnished silver eagles are the same in appearance as compared to a bullion silver eagle, will the burnished eagle lose favor within the numismatic community as a collectable coin?  I guess that only time will tell.  By the way, in your statement you say "variety of OP's".  And being a "Newbie" numismatist, I'm not sure what the abbreviation "OP's" means in your statement.  If you don't mind, please reply and clarify.    Thanks.  

We can't predict future (or even present) acceptance. Usually, small differences fade from importance after a few years. Almost all of the coins are Gem Uncirculated so there's little of the "searching" aspect to collecting these.