1906 Us-Philippines Proof One Peso - A Key Coin

The latest krauss catalog only lists it as proof and a mintage of 500, as you say. The value given is $900.
A very nice coin. Shame you don't have a 1906S as the values for F to BU are much, much higher (but there is a beware of counterfeits warning).

Beautiful coin, great photo. Good job!

I note you've mentioned ANACS slabbing this coin in another thread - be aware, these slabs are not airtight and will provide no additional protection against the atmosphere. If your wish is more for protection than grading, let me recommend this:

http://www.interceptshield.com/holders.html

Proof coins, by their nature, should be graded to a stricter standard than business strikes. The quality of the strike itself is a much more important factor - any lack of fullness is an immediate downgrade - and therefore proper grading must involve knowledge of how the coin should look when perfectly struck.

My knowledge does not qualify me to grade this coin.

In addition, such a strict evaluation would require a more in-depth photo study than your pictures, as good as they are, have shown. For instance, the obverse pic shows a "graininess" about the arm which might be a photographic artifact, but might also be indicative of a lesser-quality strike or planchet. Multiple camera angles would be necessary to show any hairlines which might have appeared through handling, however careful it has been, and any mint-originated marks.

Almost every single 1906 Proof I looked at while researching this post has had toning. Your coin looks to have none; this might be an immediate indicator to a professional grader that the coin has been dipped during its' life. Although it's possible to remove toning without any visible evidence, the fact that no toning exists might be reason for a grader to immediately dismiss the coin has having non-original surfaces.

With all that said, I would venture to guess that, if considered as original, untouched and mint-brilliant, this coin would be quite a highly-regarded example of the type. Its' value therefore would be into 4 figures. An NGC PF64 sold for $1380 at Heritage earlier this year. That number surprises me as being artificially low due to low demand; a US Proof of such scarcity would sell for multiples of that price.

Done right, it is quite possible to dip a Proof coin and remove toning without affecting the mirror surfaces. So, a conclusion of "Altered Surfaces" on the part of a professional grader could be as much assumption as reaction to evidence; this is an important consideration for anyone contemplating having a coin graded.

Dipping does cause microscopic differences. I have done before-after studies of a dipped coin showing visible changes at 200x magnification. However, these changes are specific to the coin - the "after" conditions I observed (lessening of the "roughness" of the fields) can also be attributable to die wear.

It's a slippery slope.

I just got back from the Philippines. I managed to get a few older coins during my stay but nothing like that. There aren't really any coin shops in the Philippines and collecting was kinda difficult. Beautiful coin!

I bought coins there at tsange from vendors who usually buy old coins to melt down and make jewelery. You're right though, nothing rare and good condition coins were a bit tougher to find.

This is a beautiful coin. with its mintage, I guess it is really hard to find in that magnificent condition. Congrats to you for having that 1906 proof one peso coin.