@windweaver77: Ignoring the harsh mechanical polishing and cleaning the coin was subjected to, one quick way of telling if the coin is potentially a proof coin is the quality of its strike and the level of detail seen on the coin. The ship's sails on the reverse are one place to look. On genuine proof coins, there is much more detail seen on the sails vs. the coin shown.
Compare here:
1892 Columian PF66
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