Proof coins

[RWB]

"Then you can take a 1980 penny proof and compare it to the 1909 proof and compare which one has more detail. Come on.. Which coin looks better?"

 

Grading is not about "which looks better" it is about consistent application of "standards." If no coin from a certain year is better than Proof 65, so be it. If all the modern proofs are -69 or 70, that's just the way it is...the fewer layers of individual "opinion" the better.

[Conder101]

Then you can take a 1980 penny proof and compare it to the 1909 proof and compare which one has more detail. Come on.. Which coin looks better?

If you tried that you would find that the 1909 proof would have more detail. But the two coins still would look nothing alike because there are too many differences between the designs,relief and surface finish.

 

The 1909 has higher relief, with finer details and a more sculptured look. The 1980 has a much lower flatter appearance with less detail and lower relief. The 1909 proof also does not have the mirror finish fields or the cameo contrast devices seen on the 1980. Instead the 1909 has a matte finish over the entire coin with no contrast between the fields and devices. (And neither the 1909 or 1980 has the mirror finish fields and devices with no contrast between them that is typically seen on a 1959 proof.)

 

But all of them have the extreme sharpness of strike, the squared rims and the full square often polished edges.

 

It can be difficult to determine a proof from a business strike on the early matte proofs because the surface treatment didn't look that different from the business strike surfaces (unlike earlier and later proofs), and the business strike were often better struck than what we are used to with today's high speed presses

 

[messydesk]

A "proof" made in 1909 does not even come close to a proof made in the 2000's.

False.

 

Proof coins made in 1909 typically exceed the quality of current proof coins. They have higher relief, sharper detail, and nicer surfaces than the low-relief, sterile, 60-grit cameo stuff being created today, even if you do put a PR70 label near it.

[BillJones]

A "proof" made in 1909 does not even come close to a proof made in the 2000's.

False.

 

Proof coins made in 1909 typically exceed the quality of current proof coins. They have higher relief, sharper detail, and nicer surfaces than the low-relief, sterile, 60-grit cameo stuff being created today, even if you do put a PR70 label near it.

 

I don't know about that. Most collectors are not and were not impressed with the Matte Proof coinage, especially the cents and nickels. Their appearance was too close to that of their business strike counterparts.

 

Having said that I'd love to own a 1909-VDB cent in Matte Proof 64 or 65. It would complete my set of collectable Proof 20th century coins, but it's not going to happen. The coin is virtually impossible to find, and the prices for attractive ones are in orbit.