The authors investigated the effects of preparation conditions and mechanical polishing on the resistance-temperature characteristics of superconducting oxides, Y//1Ba//2Cu//3O//7// minus //y which were prepared from different starting materials of (1) Y//2O//3, Ba(NO//3)//2 and Cu(NO//3)//2 (A-series) and (2) Y//2O//3, BaCO//3 and CuO (B-series). The A-series samples were ten times more closely packed than the B-series samples. It was found that mechanical polishing of the specimen surface was necessary to obtain stable and reproducible resistance-temperature characteristics. In addition, the specimen, which was prepared from the A-series starting material, gave the best zero-resistance result at 95. 5 K.