Susan B Anthony Proof Or Nomal Strike?

It will only be a guess with out pictures

Sometimes by the mint mark. In 1979 mint marks were still being punched into working dies by hand. The punch that was being used was old and worn. The proof mint mark resembled more of a "blob" than a well-formed "S." Towards the end of the production run in 1979, a new punch was made and yielded the 1979-S Proof Type 2 clear mint marks

https://coins.thefuntimesguide.com/1979_proof_set/
https://coinweek.com/modern-coins/t...ony-dollars/
https://www.coinworld.com/news/us-c...dollars.html
https://www.PCGS.com/news/1979-and-...dollar-types

It would seem that if you can't tell whether it is a proof or business strike due to circulation wear the question is moot.

How about some pics?

Got it, good luck

yeah, that's pretty much where I am I think. trying to look closely at areas where the fields are really small, or right next to the devices. the SBAs are reeeeeeally badly struck in general, but the 'S's are a lot better, so that makes it even harder to tell. i'll try to get some pics up tomorrow. got a bunch of quarters to go through tonight...

Well most people can id if its a proof and just want to differentiate the type they found which is mainly what my post was about. Similar to Dearborn, the original run of Proof Susan B. Anthony dollars from 1979 through 1981 was produced at a time when the Deep Cameo method of manufacturer was just becoming standard for all United States Proof coins so again here you would require a coin so worn that none of that would be shown at all and destroys all the potential added value. As nick10 mentioned proofs are better struck than regulars if you compare them side by side. Also the 1979-S Proof Type 2 (clear) and 1981-S Type 2 Proof Susan B. Anthony Proof Dollars are considered the keys for the series and these pieces are considered relatively scarce in the context of modern United States coins. So its hard to find even in proof sets let alone that someone dumped one into change but I guess anything is possible.

Speaking of DCAM (deep cameo), I have a 1979-s PCGS pr69dcam type 1 as part of a prize package I won in a contest here on this forum recently, http://goccf.com/t/425246&whichpage=4#3701105 I added a few of my recent posted coins below to show they are mine.

Makes sense as finding a 'rare' coin might sometimes be worth the effort as you said 'a thing' and can be fun just to look and learn. One reason you might be finding lots of proofs is that in late 2008 and into 2009, economic conditions slowed the movement of coins within circulation and caused Americans to cash in hoards of old change and proof sets that showed little value over their face value (or pulled out the individual coins that did first). With little need for newly produced coins, the Federal Reserve reduced coinage orders from the United States Mint and production fell dramatically.

At the pricing shown for most examples with SBA except top condition graded type 2's its probably best to just buy the examples you want if you have trouble, its just not worth the effort in the value differences shown here (unless they are top grade condition in which case your worn ones will never be those so not worth the effort even if you found one). http://m.numismedia.com/dollars.htm What you might want to do is pick up Strike It rich with pocket change 5th edition which gives you quite alot to look for that might have value since your willing to search and cuts out lots of the ones that probably arent worth time or too hard for someone starting out. Its easier than to use the websites initially as well since you just look up the coin to see if theres anything worthwhile about it to search for.