German coins are not one of the ones I generally look at (I just have a few graded examples) but I sent one to be graded on the off chance as it looked like it might grade to ms68 or 69 and it came back as a proof 68. It was one of the more common proofs but even so it didn't seem all that different from business strikes that I happen to have.
For some coins the proofs are just utterly obvious but for some series like the Chinese pandas it is almost impossible. I know that series much better and know how to tell the differences but they are very small and that didn't much work with this series.
Are there any tips anyone can give me on these? I am not really interested in collecting the series but I find them quite fascinating because a lot of the business strikes (like the pandas) look like they could pass for proof.
Thanks for the help in advance.