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 Replies: 13 / Views: 9,055 |
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Valued Member
United States
50 Posts |
Scenario - I just received a handful of change at my local grocery / retail store.
What should I look for in my change to determine if I have a proof? Other than looking in the "US Coin Facts" section of this site (or any other site), is there an easy way to say, "this coin is a proof"? Or at the very least determine that something is different about this coin, I need to do some more research.
I am assuming my change has been circulated quite a bit and probably doesn't look the same as when it was still in the plastic case.
Can someone post a few pictures of well circulated proofs next to a regular coin? Maybe that would help.
Thanks as always!!
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Pillar of the Community
 United States
5828 Posts |
Found this guy in a roll of cents from the bank. Still had great cameo and reflective mirrored surfaces, though.   |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
11951 Posts |
Most circulated proofs you might find in change
will be 1974 and newer, with a "S" mint mark.
For those years if it is a "S" mint mark it is
a proof.
The years older than that are a little harder
to tell. Maybe buy a couple of the cheaper
proof sets, from differ years, so you can have
something to compare.
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Rest in Peace
United States
18456 Posts |
You should be able to tell a circulated proof coin from circ. business strikes fairly easy .The proof will have mirrored fields to a degree. the devices might be dullish or mirrored ,again to a degree. the rim of the coin will be sharp and struck up, any proof after 1970 will have an S mint mark. prier proofs will have no mint mark. I hope this information will help you to find circulated proofs. |
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
12437 Posts |
Circulating design proofs minted since 1968 will bear the S mintmark. The only business strikes to bear the S mintmark in that time period are 1968-1974 cents, 1968-1970 nickels and 1979-1981 SBA dollars. |
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
This is a circulated proof.
Quality of striking with sharpness of details, mirror fields, cameo details, along with very obvious minor nicks and scratches suggest this.
It has been explained to me by a coin dealer that, from his experience, proof sets have been broken up to take one or more desired coins from the set for inclusion into a larger series, and the remaining coins are released into circulation.
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Moderator
 United States
187862 Posts |
Remember, proof is a process, not a condition. As indicated above, there are many ways to tell if a coin was struck as a proof, even if it has seen some modest circulation.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
1249 Posts |
I don't even always use a mint mark to tell. You can always tell by the a combination of fields and rim for unreeded coins. Dimes and quarters fields and mintmarks
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
I've always wondered this myself. I've seen some coins for sale, like an 1895 Morgan for example, that look just like business strikes except for the proof-only date.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
946 Posts |
You can usually tell. I went into my bosses work van to look for a bit in the front dash and long behold I see this bright shiny quarter gleaming at me. It was circulated and beat up a bit,but it was a 71-s Proof. You can usually tell the difference.
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Bedrock of the Community
United States
62064 Posts |
Note the appearance of the business strike and proof coins.  Also the rims rim edges are different. The proofs have a squared edge. The business strikes have more of a rounded edge. If you tried to put 50 proof cents in a tube, they won't fit. (about 48 fit) The rims are taller.  Edited by coop
10/23/2015 4:30 pm
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Bedrock of the Community
Australia
21786 Posts |
Once a proof has seen circulation, I grade it as I would any other circulated coin.
A coin may have seen minimal circulation, but not enough to suffer any discernable wear.
Hence to my way of thinking, a circulated proof can be graded.
For example:
"circulated proof MS63" or if wear is discernable,
"circulated proof EF45".
That still leaves the collector to make his own value judgement about the coin, because such a coin is not listed in any catalog that I know of.
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Moderator
United States
187862 Posts |
Technically those examples should be PF63 and PF45.
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Pillar of the Community
United States
4963 Posts |
@coop- the nickels in those pictures are the 1938-2004 design, correct?
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Replies: 13 / Views: 9,055 |
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Posted 10/22/2015 4:35 pm
