Take a look at this quarter i believe it was struck on a proof planchet notice how it has a mirror like finish under all the pmd.Please look at the first coin the second coin is for comparison.
If I am not mistaken, proof quarters are minted only in SF. How would a proof planchet get to Philly?
There is no doubt that this is a proof planchet you can see under the circulation wear that this was a well polished coin planchet with a dark mirror like finish,business strike coins don't have this type of finish.A member on another forum said the mint had an experiment with rejected proof planchets on business strike coins but they were not intended for release,this may explain how the planchet got to the P mint.Proof coins are struck with a greater amount of pressure than a business strike coin that could explain the weak strike on the coin.Please look at this reverse photo and at the area around the eagles head you can see a little cameo like devices on the coin.
Didn't some say a while ago here on CoinTalk that the San Francisco mint sends all their reject proof planchets to the other two mints? If I'm mistaken please correct me.
They send them to Denver, it's closer. Why send them to Philly when they can just send them to Denver?
Here's a link from a 2006 CT Thread where Mike Diamond mentioned that there's a few known off-centered business strike coins on proof planchets,he also said those coins will have a dimple like surface from being polished with steel pellets.http://www.cointalk.com/t17410/
This is just my opinion you're more than welcome to agree or disagree with me it happens all the time here at CT.The reason why i made that statement is because having the coin in my hand and looking at a 1998 proof quarter they both have the same surface but i do welcome your take on this coin,please give me your opinion.
Polished to heck and then circulated. Proof planchets are polished up, but the frostiness of the devices comes from acid etching of the dies, and also the fields of the dies are polished. It takes both of these factors to create the deep cameo modern proofs. I'm thinking your coin was uncirculated, polished to heck by somebody, then circulated, and that's why you have that proof-like effect on the coin.
It appears that this coin was polished outside the Mint and is not an error. The exceedingly vague letters LI are not consistent with their being struck through grease or with intentional die abrasion.
What happens "all the time here at CT" is that someone asks a question, people disagree, the OP then gets into a tizzy insisting that they are right, and then everyone gets all snarky. If a proof coin is circulated enough to get wear, the surface is lost and is no longer proof-like, much less proof. If you examine it closely, do you see polishing marks like from whizzing? It looks like to me a circulated coin that has been whizzed.
A proof coin will always be a proof coin. Proof is a method of manufacture, not a state of condition.
Unless it is worn slick, yes. And even if it is worn slick, it may still show the diagnostics of a proof coin.