Super Topic!
"The 1936 Proof Coins:
Some dissatisfaction has been expressed by collectors over the new proof coins being struck without the mirror-like field and frosted design so much admired in the proofs before 1907. In reply to a request by the editor for a description of the process used on the new coins, the Director of the Mint has sent the following letter:
Your letter of June 13th, relative to proof coins, has been referred to this Bureau for attention. The Superintendent submits the following explanation in regard to the method of preparing proof coins:
Proof coins being struck at the mint at the present time are made in every detail exactly as they have been made in the past, namely, the planchets are carefully selected and each one struck individually on a hydraulic press and handled so that one coin cannot mar another. The dies are polished to a mirror finish at frequent intervals.
The difference between recent proofs and those struck in the past is due to the difference in design and the method used in preparing the master dies. All the present coins are made from sculptured models without retouching with a graver in any way in order to preserve the exact quality and texture of the original sculptor's work. This gives a more or less uneven background with less sharpness in the details. In other words, they are produced the same as small medals might be struck.
The master dies for the gold coins struck previous to 1907, and the silver coins struck prior prior to 1916, were prepared in the older and entirely different method, being lower in relief and much greater sharpness in detail by re-engraving, even though the original design was reduced from a sculptured model. The inscriptions were usually put in the master dies by means of punches. In addition, they were prepared with a 'basined' background or field, that is, the field was polished to a perfect radius on a revolving disc, which again produced a much clearer definition between motif and field, and this gave an entirely different appearance to the coin.
With the present coins, the models were never prepared with the intention of 'basining' and it could not be done without many radical alterations in the relief of the present designs.
Very truly yours,
Nellie Tayloe Ross
Director of the Mint
Courtesy of The Numismatist, July, 1936, p. 531.