RWB

The book "United States Proof Coins 1936 – 1942" has answers to all your questions. It includes a searchable PDF version on CD-ROM. (PS: I researched and wrote the book.)

Al;though the photos are of marginal quality, there are many visible scratches and bumps,...far too many to exclude all of these coins from MS68 or 69 conditions. Coins of lesser grades than these are simply too numerous to be worth more than bullion, which is well below the cost of sticking them into slabs.

Kennedy halves were not wrapped by the Mints or FRBs. They were shipped only in $1,000 bags

I prefer truth to sticking one's head in the sand.

90% They are worth melt value. These were saved by the pallet load bu hoarders and the general public. (In the late 1960s a new 1964 Kennedy half would get you the best service in the finest restaurants in Moscow, along with other things.)

This is what the TPGs were supposed to do. Leave opinion factors to the free market which is also where values are determined. Mixing the two corrupts.

RE: "First, grading comes down to valuing a coin. It is valuation in the simplest sense." This is a totally false viewpoint, and I've very disappointed to see it embraced by someone with so much potential. The only valuation determination of a coin is between buyer and seller, and that is widely variable. This is easily confirmed by looking at coins of identical "grade" in auction results. Second, the moment someone adds subjective criteria to the "grade" of a coin, the grade begins to float and is no longer a reliable indicator of the state of preservation of a coin. TPG and other "grading" schemes are unreliable if opinion and potentially objective measurements are mixed. Third, the entire base of TPG authentication and grading is independence from the money-forces of numismatics. If a TPG ever becomes a "valuator" of coins rather then an objective "evaluator," the whole pile of assumptions and grades falls apart. Coin collecting becomes just a self-serving pile of needy, greedy people conniving to rip the entrails from collector's wallets.

Nope. 1) A "star" "asterisk" "flumbot" or other character is not a grade --- just a decoration. 2) "Frost" "fog" "snow" "ice" are not part of a grade - they express nothing about the state of preservation of a coin or medal. A meaningful grade is a written and numerical description of the deterioration of a coin or medal from the moment it leaves the dies to the present time; nothing else. Other factors of collector interest are all subjective and thus infinitely variable among individuals. "Grade" must be stable over time, while other factors may go in and out of favor with collectors and thus modify the fair market value.

The Eisenhower "prototype" stuff comes from one isolated comment in a mint document. The balance of documents have not, to my knowledge, been examined, and no complete and careful analysis has been published by anyone. Thus, the special name presently has no real meaning or firm connection to fact.

Let’s be objective here. Mr. Kurt Bell has, with the exception of learning to judge :”educational” exhibits at ANA shows, contributed only a weak-shelled goose egg to American numismatics. He has published – Nothing. He has researched – Nothing. He has contributed – Nothing. He has discovered – Nothing. He has solved – Nothing. He has discovered new insights – Nothing. He has innovated – Nothing. He has mentored -- No one. He has guided -- No one. He has Contributed to major hobby publications -- Nothing. He claims to be an attorney – but what attorney would ever represent a client without first researching the law, prior cases, relevant Court decisions, and anything that might benefit a client? Yet – that is exactly the ignorance he proposes for American numismatics and then has the added audacity to denigrate those who have done all of the above items and much more. Of course, Mr. Bell is in a “good place” where enslaved ignorance is blissful –– until the bill comes due.

Thanks!

Well.....The Byzantine (Eastern Roman Empire) version of "Christianity" was full of saints, and several appeared on their coinage, along with the emperors and Yoshua ibn Yusef.

VF Damaged. Largely an album hold filler.

See full story on the BBC: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-63122180

Excellent candidate for authentication! Go for it.

With there being no attempt to maintain "frosting" on relief, new dies quickly adjusted to the mean surface of planchets. Any "frosted" or cameo coins came from a new die. The Proof coin book 1936-42 shows all known die combinations and when new dies were introduced.

What I found is in the the DE book.

If anyone has specifications (weight, measurements, etc.) on 18th century US dies please let me know. Thanks!

Barely EF --- where did the OP get the idea that this could possibly be "AU" ?

All DE to 1907. The quantity will always decline over time due to attrition.

I knew Scott and had worked with him for a short time at Mitre Corp. before he left. He was trying to make a go of it in "blog-sphere" but I lost track of him a couple of years back. Sorry that he died so young.

Thanks for your helpful comments!

There are a few wire recordings, also, and some sound film.

1955 proofs were issued both ways. The little boxes were also used for medals.

The photos show discoloration....but no evidence of clashed dies.