BY R.W. JULIAN
When beginning collectors find a coin dated in the 1800s or earlier, they automatically assume that was the year it was actually struck, not the year before or the year aft er. Unfortunately, this is not always true, even today.
When the 2020 coins are first used by the public, say in January of the new year, most collectors believe that these coins were all struck aft er January 1. Th is is generally correct, but on several occasions over the past couple of decades, the mints have occasionally struck coins of the coming year in December. Th is is done so new circulation coins, as well as bullion pieces, of the given date, can be seen fairly quickly in the marketplace in reasonable numbers.