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Just bought a 1965 Special Mint set.
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Are these considered proofs or just uncirculated mint coins and which mint are they from? I assume San Francisco, since that what the envelope states. Why are the coins not “S” mint mark then? Just curious 

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Correct me if I am wrong but SMS's were all struck in Philly.  They are sort of considered "in-between" a business strike and a proof strike but are not considered proofs to answer your question. 

Edited by GBrad
I was wrong.....
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Curious as to why they were return addressed from San Francisco and what does the S.S. Actually mean?

special set or San Francisco Special if so why were they not sent from the Philly mint? Hope these are not dumb questions, just trying to learn.

TIA

 

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Here is the answer that I found on GovMint

1965 Special Mint Set

In 1964, America faced an impending coin shortage due to speculation and hoarding of small change, thus requiring all the attentions of the Philadelphia Mint. The shortage was so severe, that the Mint broke a long-standing tradition, and produced 1964 dated coins, as late as 1966! Even worse, the Treasury discontinued production of Proof Sets and Mint Sets, so that full production capacity could be focused on coins for circulation. As an alternative, the Mint began producing Special Mint Sets containing coins that were, in effect, souped-up Uncirculated pieces. The "special" finish was brighter and shinier than on regular coins struck for general use, but short of the brilliant, mirrored surfaces of true Proof coins.

Even though these sets were struck and produced at the San Francisco Mint (then an Assay Office), the coins bore no mintmark. Three things worked against the 1965 Special Mint Sets: One, they contained no 90% Silver coins (the Dime and Quarter were made of Copper-Nickel; the Half Dollar only 40% Silver); two, the public failed to embrace the new finish; and three, the Mint priced the sets at an unprecedented $4.00 - mostly to reduce speculation, and partially to pay for a seventy-five cent registered mailing fee (instituted to reduce excessive losses through the mail system).

The Mint sent IBM order cards to 800,000 buyers of either the 1964 Proof or Mint Sets. On one side of the card, buyers were instructed to make remittance to the "officer in charge"; on the other side of the same card, a conflicting instruction asked that remittance be made to the Superintendent of the U.S. Mint." Fortunately, payments made either way were accepted.

Orders for the 1965 Special Mint Sets were accepted through June 15, 1966 and shipment of sets began on May 20th. The public's reaction to the Special Mint Sets was subdued - sales for 1965 were less than half of the combined sales of 1964 Proof Sets and Mint Sets.

About the sets: All of the Special Mint Set coins were struck at San Francisco on old presses obtained from the Ordnance Department, but without an identifying mintmark.

Most 1965 SMS coins have a brilliant finish. Cameo surfaces are rare in Nickel and Half Dollar and very rare in Cent, Dime and Quarter. Deep Cameo surfaces are extremely rare (the Cent and Dime may not exist as Deep Cameo).

Each set contained five coins: Lincoln Cent, Jefferson Nickel, Roosevelt Dime, Washington Quarter, and Kennedy Half Dollar.

Mintage: 2,360,000 sets

Original packaging: The coins in the 1965 Special Mint Sets were sealed in flat pliofilm packs along with a blue and silver disk identifying this as a Special Mint Set. The pack was sealed in a white envelope.

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On 12/28/2021 at 12:02 PM, Mr.Bill347 said:

Even though these sets were struck and produced at the San Francisco Mint (then an Assay Office), the coins bore no mintmark.

That's excellent info. I did not know this fact. I retract my initial comment on your thread about being struck in Philly.  @Mohawk's comment is great info too.  I'm learning something new everyday!! I love it!!(thumbsu  

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On 12/28/2021 at 11:58 AM, Mr.Bill347 said:

Hope these are not dumb questions, just trying to learn.

No Bill..... not a dumb question at all.  Thank you for asking and posting your question.  I gained some valuable knowledge and insight on these SMS's.

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So Mohawk, does that mean there were no mint marks on the next five years of mint sets. So they only made Special Mint sets with no mint marks through 1970.

that might explain why I found a set of three special mint sets 1965,1966,1967 on EBay. So why do I have the 1968 S Proof Set? Does that law only apply to special mint sets in that coinage act?

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Hi Bill,

I'm not certain of the exact details of how mint marks came back to U.S. coinage, but they were restored in 1968.  It was probably because the coin shortage was declared over and there were enough clad coins in circulation to replace the silver ones that had been removed.  The provision stated that mint marks were to be removed for up to five years, not that they had to be removed for that total period of time.  Remember, at the time, the coin shortage was blamed on coin collectors.  I imagine that provision was put in place so that collectors wouldn't remove multiple coins of a certain date because they had different mint marks.  I'm not sure of the actual thinking behind the decision, but I'd imagine it was something like that....maybe Roger will chime in here and clear this up.   Mint Sets and Proof Sets returned in 1968 as well.  As for the years of 1965, 1966 and 1967, only Special Mint Sets were produced.  There were no standard Mint Sets nor Proof Sets in those three years.

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Ahh. That does make sense! It was us goofy coin collectors that messed everything up. I’m surprised they didn’t blame the VietNam war ! So todays supposed coin shortage is who’s fault? Lol 😆 so I guess I’d better get the 66 and 67 while I’m at it. Thanks for the education Mohawk. Happy New Year!

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On 12/28/2021 at 1:20 PM, Mr.Bill347 said:

Ahh. That does make sense! It was us goofy coin collectors that messed everything up. I’m surprised they didn’t blame the VietNam war ! So todays supposed coin shortage is who’s fault? Lol 😆 so I guess I’d better get the 66 and 67 while I’m at it. Thanks for the education Mohawk. Happy New Year!

No problem, Bill.  Glad to help.  And they were dumping a lot of blame our way in the 1960's, to be sure!  A full set of the three Special Mint Sets is a very cool and very affordable project.  Getting the 1966 and 1967 sets is a good idea.  The 1967 sets in particular are very nice.  Some of the best looking early clad coins come from the 1967 SMS sets.  Many 1967 SMS coins actually look nicer than the 1968-S Proof coins from the next year.  

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On 12/28/2021 at 1:45 PM, jimbo27 said:

In my registry set the sms set are considered to be proof coins, at least that is how they are listed.4030636_Full_Obv.thumb.jpg.6b274e1022e387e2b7c48a60b83d2a36.jpg

That's a good-looking quarter. One of the nicer '65s that I have seen.

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On 12/28/2021 at 10:46 AM, Mr.Bill347 said:

Are these considered proofs or just uncirculated mint coins and which mint are they from? I assume San Francisco, since that what the envelope states. Why are the coins not “S” mint mark then? Just curious 

21D271CB-B4AE-491D-813D-8DF2D783FA6C.jpeg

The half and the cent look like they may have some cameo. Can you post some close-ups?

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On 12/28/2021 at 6:50 PM, Mr.Bill347 said:

Just did JP got them both.

Very nice Bill.  I think you'll enjoy them.  Especially that 1967.  1967 SMS sets often contain some damned fine looking coins.  If I were to do a U.S. Type Set, all of those types would likely be 1967 SMS coins.  Many of them are that good.

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On 12/28/2021 at 11:46 AM, Mr.Bill347 said:

Are these considered proofs or just uncirculated mint coins and which mint are they from? I assume San Francisco, since that what the envelope states. Why are the coins not “S” mint mark then? Just curious 

 

They are uniformly called "Special Mint Sets" exactly as designated at issue.

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Legislation was passed in 1967 that allowed for the return of the mintmarks in 1968.

I would assume the S. S. on the white envelope stood for Special Set.  Mint sets were labeled UC (Uncirculated Coins) and proof sets were PC (Proof Coins) so Special Set, would make sense.  They weren't Uncirculated and they weren't Proof, they were "Special".

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On 12/29/2021 at 8:42 AM, Conder101 said:

Legislation was passed in 1967 that allowed for the return of the mintmarks in 1968.

I would assume the S. S. on the white envelope stood for Special Set.  Mint sets were labeled UC (Uncirculated Coins) and proof sets were PC (Proof Coins) so Special Set, would make sense.  They weren't Uncirculated and they weren't Proof, they were "Special".

S. S. could also be called the Sorry Set . Sorry we called all you Numismatics coin hoarders . We still like your money so here is a S S to keep you happy until we can figure things out. :whistle:

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On 12/29/2021 at 1:40 PM, J P Mashoke said:

S. S. could also be called the Sorry Set . Sorry we called all you Numismatics coin hoarders . We still like your money so here is a S S to keep you happy until we can figure things out. :whistle:

Yep.  I think you nailed it JP.  

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On 12/29/2021 at 11:08 PM, VKurtB said:

Boy! On that first pic, the 1965 Kennedy looks INCREDIBLE!!!

Yes, on my 65 S.S. the half looks just as silver as my 64 and there is no copper showing on the edge of my 65. At first I thought it was a error that maybe silver planchets got mixed in with the clad ones  but after checking around I found that the copper edge did not show on a lot of the 65 Kennedy coins.

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On 12/29/2021 at 11:08 PM, VKurtB said:

Boy! On that first pic, the 1965 Kennedy looks INCREDIBLE!!!

It does indeed!  But would you break with long-standing tradition and buy it out-of-hand, sight unseen?   🤔 

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On 12/30/2021 at 4:32 PM, Quintus Arrius said:

It does indeed!  But would you break with long-standing tradition and buy it out-of-hand, sight unseen?   🤔 

Probably not, but it is exactly that kind of look that catches my eye when I’m searching sets. Like the very best SMS set I ever saw, bought in the Bloomsbury neighborhood of London, England. 

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On 12/29/2021 at 11:08 PM, VKurtB said:

Boy! On that first pic, the 1965 Kennedy looks INCREDIBLE!!!

That is because the coins I got were not what was pictured. Those were cameo coins in the picture but mine are not. Still nice and I’m happy with them but kind of bait and switch by the dealer Quadcitycoin or Roundtable. This is a common practice among EBay sellers, to use the best photos and not actual coin photos. Watch for sellers stating actual coin photos. I wasn’t expecting cameos so wasn’t to surprised and still glad to have the set For $18 all in.

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@Mr.Bill347. I appreciate your honesty. That coin is memorable.  With an automobile regardless of vintage, the car you see is.  the car you'll get ‐- depending on the results of a third-part diagnostic examination.  Your collection of coins are top shelf!   🐓 

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