Posted 06/12/2010 12:48 am
Quote:
I know cameo means mirror finish with sand blasted raised parts.
I know cameo means mirror finish with sand blasted raised parts.
Yeah, close enough.
Understanding that "Proof" is a method of manufacture with specially polished dies and polished blanks, or planchets, that when struck on the planchet creates a coin with a mirrored field and frosted devices (modern proofs anyway, most earlier proofs did not contain frosted devices), the contrast between the field and the devices is known as "Cameo". The degree of contrast between the two has added additional nomenclature to describe it.
When the degree of contrast is high enough (highly mirrored field and snowy white frosted devices that stand out markedly) it is called a "Deep Cameo" or "Ultra Cameo" depending on the grading company.
To know whether your coins are UC or not would require you to know what a UC coin looks like in comparison to a non-UC coin. Just look at a bunch of UC and non-UC Proof coins to familiarize yourself with that look, then compare them to your coins.
One normally makes a determination that as certain coin gives the appearance of UC before sending it in for grading, as often a non-UC grade would yield no additional value to the coin.
For example, I have one Proof coin in my Kennedy half dollar album that stands out above the others. I don't remember the date offhand, maybe 1983, but the coin clean and the cameo is so strong that I have been considering popping it out of the album to send it in. If my hunch is correct, it could turn a $30 coin into a $300 coin. But I can only make that determination based on observance and comparison.
Hope this helps,
Steve
