What is Brilliant Uncirculated (BU)?
Describes an uncirculated coin that still retains its original luster. Usually not a heavily toned coin. The letters BU stands for Brilliant Uncirculated, however, the term is no longer the primary language used when describing uncirculated coins. BU can be used interchangeably with Mint State.
Brilliant Uncirculated coins were either stored and/or reserved after the minting process and have never been heavily handled. BU coins can be extremely old, however, due to the lack of handling the coin look as though they have been recently minted.
Brilliant Uncirculated coins are valuable collectibles primarily because of their rating on the universal coin grading scale. B.U. coins generally rank between 60-70 on the Sheldon scale. The Sheldon Scale is a point-based grading system used in the numismatic circles to assess a coin’s value. Dr. William Sheldon first published his scaling system in a work called “A Quantitative Scale for condition.” The higher the rank of the coin, the higher the value. Dr. Sheldon’s scaled used terms such as Hardly Worn, Nice, Good, etc.
A coin dealer named Wayte Raymond further expanded on the coin grading system by publishing a work in which he added additional definitions/terms to evaluate the value of a coin. Due to the rise in additional coin rating pieces, Dr. Sheldon’s scale fell out of popularity by 1953. However, a modified version gained traction when the American Numeristic Society adopted the scale in the 1970s. The adopted scale includes some of the following descriptors:
- Poor/PO
- Fair/FR
- Good/G
- Choice Good/G+
- Fine/F
- Choice Fine F+, F15
- Extremely Fine/Ex. Fine
- Choice About Uncirculated/Ch. AU
While BU coins are not rare, due in part because they were intended for circulation, the coins generally are in excellent condition. Coin collectors can expect high quality and therefore a solid investment in certified BU coins.
What people ask…
What does BU uncirculated mean?
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See Also…
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