They're on sale at Union Station too, apparently from last week.
$56.95
> FYI and FWIW, U.S. Mint notified me yesterday that my subscription set
> was being shipped.
Received my two yesterday. No complaints other than the price.
--
Mike Benveniste -- m...@murkyether.com (Clarification Required)
Its name is Public opinion. It is held in reverence. It settles
everything. Some think it is the voice of God. -- Mark Twain
Complaints??? I think the engraving staff has taken the Kennedy down
to such incredibly low relief that it looks really bad from most
angles besides holding the coin straight-in-front of your face.
Viewed from the sides and from below, I ask myself "who is this
supposed to be?", it sure doesn't look like JFK.
Coins are are supposed to be sculpture, not poster art.
oly
oly
===================
Dang, oly, now I'm going to have to do the sideways peek when mine arrive.
I expect business strikes on halves, especially in older die states, to be
somewhat flat, but silver proofs? These are supposed to be the ne plus
ultra exemplars, not another example of expedient corner-cutting at the
Mint.
> Complaints??? I think the engraving staff has taken the Kennedy
> down to such incredibly low relief that it looks really bad from
> most angles besides holding the coin straight-in-front of your
> face.
Oh, I've got plenty of _that_ type of complaint. In fact,
I've been complaining about U.S. coin designs having little
relief and relying too much on contrast with mirrored
fields since at least the 1995-6 Atlanta Olympic coins.
I see that same design bias on the National Parks Quarters,
but those designs are further compromised by the legal
requirement for the silver bullion hockey pucks. I've
yet to see a business strike, but I can only imagine they
will look very flat and busy.
If that's not enough, there's this rant:
http://benveniste.livejournal.com/44814.html
But unlike last year, at least I got solid PR68-70 coins; no
fingerprints or blobs of extra metal.
Specifically, I don't think JFK's jaw and chin look very realistic
anymore. Or maybe they just flow into the field without enough line
to distinguish them anymore. The engraving department has taken too
much relief out.
oly
You mean you actually LOOK at your sets? I knew I probably was missing
something all these years. I've just been ordering them each year because I
couldn't bring myself to stop. Sorta like the folks who got hooked on the
annual proof SAE's. I got a shipping notice yesterday so I expect my proof
set soon. But now I'm afraid to look.
Got mine yesterday. Even though like you I'm basically a compulsive serial
buyer of the annual silver mint set (plus AES) proofs, I always give them a
close inspection before consigning them to the stockpile.
Two or three of the presbux had one very tiny speck, so no PR-70 scores on
them, but nothing bad enough to go through the hassle of a return and hoping
that the replacement set will be any better.
The relief on the JFK half seemed about average. oly, either you got a bad
specimen from a late run or poorly formed or weakly struck die, or there's
something awry with my visual perception.
- mazorj
~ 20/600 dexter and sinister