The following is a Press Release from Numismatic Guaranty Corporation (NGC) announced that a new attribution for coins from Special Mint sets is now being offered by the company. Special Mint Sets were available from the United States Mint from 1965 to 1967. These coins were struck in San Francisco with polished dies but unpolished planchets to create a unique better-than-uncirculated-but-not-quite-proof finish. These sets were specifically produced for collectors after the Mint announced in 1964 that Proof and Mint sets would not be produced due to coin shortages.
Numismatic Guaranty Corporation® (NGC®) is offering a new attribution — “Struck at San Francisco Mint” — to distinguish coins of the 1965, 1966 and 1967 Special Mint Sets. These sets were struck exclusively at the San Francisco Assay Office, which later became the San Francisco Mint, and were produced specifically for collectors.
In 1964, the US Mint announced it would cease creating Proof and Mint sets due to a nationwide coin shortage. Collectors were disappointed by the decision, so the San Francisco Assay Office produced a Special Mint Set, starting in 1966 with coins dated 1965 and continuing through 1967. The innovative process used to produce these coins resulted in a look that is a cross between Uncirculated and Proof finishes .
Unlike Proof coins, which are struck twice on polished planchets, the Special Mint Set coins were struck once on unpolished planchets by coin dies that were overpolished. Overpolishing created a brilliant Prooflike effect, but at the expense of some design details. By 1967, the dies were no longer being overpolished, with the coins from this year generally approaching the quality of true Proof issues .
The NGC “Struck at San Francisco Mint” attribution is available for select bulk submissions. For more information, contact Scott Heller at Sheller@NGCcoin.com or 941-360-3990 or Miles Standish at Miles@NGCcoin.com or 949-922-0515.