So if you have a wheat penny with that little thin black wire around the very edge does that make it a proof. Also does the rim stay completely flat on the outside?
If by thin black wire you mean a literal thin black wire then no, that just means somebody got bored in shop class.
A good photo would certainly help. But to answer your question, does the presence of a wire rim mean the coin is a Proof? No. Wire rims are created when the coin is struck under high pressure and the metal flows between the edge of the die and the collar. This can happen with Proof coins as well as Business Strikes. A Proof coin may or may not have a wire rim. There are many other things to look for to determine if a coin is a Proof.
Upload the pictures to photobucket, and copy/paste the IMG code(in the little box when you view the picture) to your post
Sorry but it does not look like a MPL to me. The corners of the edge a squared off on a MPL. Yours are not squared off.
Definitely not a Proof. Yes the coin has a bit of finning (the wire like edge around part of the rim), but that is not even a diagnostic of a Proof coin. Also, it looks to be a problem coin, one that has been corroded and then harshly cleaned and lightly polished.
I agree that it is not MPL but that is still one great looking coin. Also, I think to be an MPL the dots between the V.D.B. have to be centered. May be wrong though.
Not a proof. Strike is not strong enough, and (even more obviously) the rims are not square enough (as opposed to the beveled edge visible in the edge photo) nor wide enough. Once you see a proof MPL raw, it's generally very easy to identify others.
To better illustrate what I'm describing above, please consider the following: An MPL edge: A comparison:
