1974 20 Centimes - Need Assistance With Grade

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John1

PaulyD, I do not think that this is a proof. AFAIK, proofs were only struck in gold at very low mintages. More likely it came from a Fleur De Coins mint set. Below is a 1975 20 Centimes from such a set, and although you can't tell from the pics, the reverse fields are mirror-like. Mine is still in the mint wrap, so the pics are a bit off.

with Hondo.
The French mint sets issued from 1965 are basically specimen sets rather than Proof Sets. There was some confusion because the sets were advertised in magazines such as 'Coin Monthly' in the UK as 'Proof Sets', and the earlier sets were marketed as 'Fleur de Coins' or FDC - a grade that many numismatists only apply to Proofs. In the 1990s the Monnaie de Paris rebranded the FDC sets as 'BU' (for 'Brilliant Universel') and started issuing real Proof sets, branded 'BE' (for 'Belle Epreuve'). BE coins have highly reflective fields and frosted reliefs.

I think PaulyD's 20 centimes may well have come from an FDC set. Quite a lot of these sets were split up and the coins sold separately. It's almost impossible to distinguish a loose 'ex-FDC' half-franc, 1-franc or 5-franc coin from a really nice Uncirculated specimen, but the aluminium-bronze 5c, 10c and 20c coins from the sets usually have quite reflective surfaces whereas the circulation coins have more of a 'satin' finish.

Nice SP-66 or 67 coin.