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Comparison of finishes on two 90% silver coins - '82 Washington half vs. '07 Desegregation dollar

For a while now, I've been struggling to put into words exactly what I mean... I notice that sometime in the late 1990s / early 2000s, the Mint's uncirculated silver coinage took on an extremely frosty, matte finish when compared to earlier coins. In many cases, it also switched to lower relief designs. You can see it in silver eagles especially - in that series, not only did the design switch from having a higher relief to a lower relief, but compare an '86 eagle to a '23 eagle and you'll see the difference in luster / finish.

I tried to pick two of the most obvious examples from my collection: an '82 Washington commemorative half dollar compared to a 2007 Desegregation in education dollar. The Washington half has a much more reflective, metallic, almost liquid like finish to the silver compared to the desegregation dollar (both are uncirculated, not proofs), which is much more flat, matte, and the luster flows in a much different way around the design (not much cartwheel effect).

What did the mint do to create this effect on the later coins? You can also see a similar transition in early Sacagawea dollars vs. later presidential dollars. I personally prefer the old finish, but what do you prefer on your uncirculated coins?