1865 Half Dime - Proof Or Business?

For this coin they are. Only 10,000 Business strikes and 500 Proofs, and consider that Proofs generally are held pristine into the future, while Business strikes....circulate. They get worn, they get lost, marred, broken. I'd be surprised if there are many more than 100 in Mint State extant, and in those grades they're worth at least grade-level more than an equivalent Proof. Heritage has offered more Proofs of this one than circulation strikes in all grades combined.

I'm no expert on this series, but, I read that the 1865 proofs are supposed to have a 45 degree rotation from obverse to reverse (flipped over). Business strikes are supposed to have no rotation.

"There seems to be a slight rotation, but no 45 degrees


http://www.ebay.com/itm/1856-LIBERT...em2a28541b56"

The coin in your link is an 1856 proof, the rotation only applies to the 1865 proofs

I found where another instance where the 45 degree rotation was discussed:
http://seateddimes.yuku.com/topic/4036

BUT, I got it backwards....the business strikes exhibit the 45 degree rotation and the proofs have no rotation:

"Up until recently, I thought I had the perfect answer for distinguishing between proof and business strike versions of the 1865 Half Dime. This involved a unique characteristic of all business strike versions of the 1865 Half Dime that I had seen, with 45°CW rotation of the dies, as you mentioned. All business strike 1865 Half Dimes that I had seen all exhibited the very same 45°CW relative rotation of the dies, and all proof versions of the 1865 that I had seen did not. Of the many examples of the 1865 Half Dime that I examined, over many years, this was always the case. Several times, when my observation was questioned over a particular coin, careful study of the example in question eventually bore out my observation. However, recently, another collector and student of the series whose opinion I respect has taken me to task on this, stating that he has a Proof version of the 1865, with 45°CW rotated dies. I confess I have not seen his coin in person, but I do value and trust his opinion and observations."

For what its worth the PCGS pop report only has 44 MS for the 1865. Theres more than 3 times that for the proof though only 1 is a DCAM.

I cant see NGCs so not sure how many they have but you seem to be right on or real close with your guess

I agree it looks more proof than business.

But what about this "certainty" of die rotation of business strikes? the ones I've listed from Heritage doesn't show the 45 degree rotation whatsoever.

That's the point - I won't really trust any conclusion about a one-die-pair issue except for the ones which are plainly Proof, and maybe obvious mid-grade MS coins clearly Uncirculated but not Proof quality.