The United States Uncirculated Coin Set, known as the Uncirculated Set or Mint Set in the United States, is an annual coin set sold by the

United States Mint The United States Mint is a bureau of the Department of the Treasury responsible for producing coinage for the United States to conduct its trade and commerce, as well as controlling the movement of bullion. It does not produce paper money; tha ...

. The set is marketed towards

coin collectors Coin collecting is the collecting of coins or other forms of minted legal tender. Coins of interest to collectors often include those that were in circulation for only a brief time, coins with mint errors, and especially beautiful or historic ...

as a way to obtain circulation coins in

mint condition Mint condition is an expression used to denote the quality of a pre-owned good as displaying virtually no imperfections and being in pristine condition relative to its original production state. Originally, the phrase related to the way collect ...

"Double" Mint Sets (1947–1958)

The Uncirculated Mint Set was introduced in 1947, containing two examples of each coin issued for circulation packaged in a cardboard display case. The reason for this was so that collectors could display both the obverse and reverse of each coin in the set's packaging, which allowed only one side of the coin to be displayed. Because of the sulfur content in the cardboard packaging, many coins included in the sets developed toning.

1959–1964 Mint Sets

In 1959, the packaging of the Mint Set was changed to

cellophane Cellophane is a thin, transparent sheet made of regenerated cellulose. Its low permeability to air, oils, greases, bacteria, and liquid water makes it useful for food packaging. Cellophane is highly permeable to water vapour, but may be coated ...

pouches. This change allowed both sides of the coins to be displayed, and eliminated the need to include two examples of each coin. This led to a significant drop in price and an increase in popularity.

Special Mint Sets (1964–1967)

Due to a shortage of coins blamed on coin collectors, the

United States Department of the Treasury The Department of the Treasury (USDT) is the national treasury and finance department of the federal government of the United States, where it serves as an executive department. The department oversees the Bureau of Engraving and Printing and ...

introduced the

Coinage Act of 1965 The Coinage Act of 1965, , eliminated silver from the circulating United States dime (ten-cent piece) and quarter dollar coins. It also reduced the silver content of the half dollar from 90 percent to 40 percent; silver in the half dollar was s ...

, which mandated that mint marks would be removed from all coinage for five years. The USDT also announced that no proof or uncirculated coin sets would be produced from 1965 through 1967. Instead, a "Special Mint Set" was made available, containing one example of each denomination produced at the San Francisco Mint. These coins were struck with a satin-like finish, and unlike the coins found in standard Mint Sets, are considered to be separate issues from the circulation coins. Due to the fact that no proof sets were produced from 1965 to 1967, many proof set collectors obtain Special Mint Sets to complete their collections of "yearly proof set" collections. Several dozen 1964 Special Mint Sets were produced for unknown reasons. The existence of these sets remained largely unknown until the 1990s, when one of the sets was sold at an auction. The coins featured the same satin finish as the other Special Mint Sets.

1968–2004 Mint Sets

1968 saw the return of mintmarks on United States coinage and the standard Mint Set. Apart from minor changes to the packaging, the new mint sets were nearly identical to the previous Mint Sets. The dollar coin made its Mint Set debut in 1973, and was notably not issued for circulation that year. No Mint Sets were produced in 1982 and 1983, and when the set returned in 1984, no dollar coin was included (the denomination had been discontinued in 1981) and US Mint tokens from the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania#Municipalities, largest city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the List of United States cities by population, sixth-largest city i ...

and

Denver Mint The Denver Mint is a branch of the United States Mint that struck its first coins on February 1, 1906. The mint is still operating and producing coins for circulation, as well as mint sets and commemorative coins. Coins produced at the Denver Min ...

s were included in its place. These tokens were removed from the set when the denomination was reintroduced in 2000. A dime featuring the W mint mark (

West Point Mint The West Point Mint is a U.S. Mint production and depository facility erected in 1937 near the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, New York, West Point, New York (state), New York, United States. the mint holds 22% of the United States' Gold res ...

) was included in the 1996 Mint Set to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Roosevelt dime. The coin was not issued for circulation.

Satin-finish Mint Sets (2005–2010)

In 2005, the US Mint started to produce Mint Set coins using special

sandblasted Sandblasting, sometimes known as abrasive blasting, is the operation of forcibly propelling a stream of abrasive material against a surface under high pressure to smooth a rough surface, roughen a smooth surface, shape a surface or remove su ...

dies, giving the coins a distinctive satin finish similar to the Special Mint Set coins. Like the Special Mint Set coins, many numismatists consider these to be separate issues from the circulation coins. With a total of 36 coins and a total face value of $14.38, the 2009 Mint Set had the most coins and highest face value of any Mint Set to date.

Brilliant-Finish Mint Sets (2011–Present)

In 2011, the US Mint changed the finish of Mint Set coins to a more proof-like "brilliant" finish. This change was made because the satin finish of the 2005–2010 coins made contact marks more apparent. The brilliant finish coins are struck with more force than circulation coins, resulting in higher quality and more detailed design. However, like the pre-2005 Mint Sets, these coins are not considered different issues. A penny with the W mint mark was included in the 2019 Mint Set to commemorate the 110th anniversary of the Lincoln cent. Similarly, a W mint mark nickel was planned to be included in the 2020 Mint Set; however due to the COVID pandemic, the coin was not produced.

Bicentennial Silver Mint Set (1976)

In 1976, the US Mint issued a mint set containing a quarter, half dollar, and dollar coin minted in silver. These coins featured special reverse designs commemorating the bicentennial of American independence.

Souvenir Sets

Standard set

Starting in 1972, the

started selling Souvenir Sets, and the

Philadelphia Mint The Philadelphia Mint in Philadelphia was created from the need to establish a national identity and the needs of commerce in the United States. This led the Founding Fathers of the United States to make an establishment of a continental national ...

did the same in 1973. These sets, available in each mints' gift shop following a public tour, contained one example of that mints' penny, nickel, dime, quarter, and half dollar, along with a medal featuring an image of its mint. These sets were sold until they were discontinued with the launch of the 50 State Quarter Program in 1999. Production figures were not recorded by the mint, and the sets receive relatively little attention from coin collectors. The 1982 and 1983 sets are an exception, though, as no Mint Sets were sold for those years, so these were collected instead.

Susan B. Anthony dollar sets

Souvenir Sets containing Susan B. Anthony dollars from the Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco Mints were offered from 1979 through 1981.

References

{{Coinage (United States) Coins of the United States