But first, this came in the mail today, too. One of my favorites so far this year. That stoic bovine and man pair reminds me of a comedic rendition of Grant Wood's, "American Gothic". 2000 Iceland 1000 Kronur Proof, struck by the US Mint: Last but not least... I was originally attracted to this coin due to what I call a "negative relief" (not sure what the appropriate term is...), in which the typical reliefs are made as an incuse. It's not the typical incused coin so I wouldn't call it that, especially since the portrait is in high relief (fyi, the following year, Israel issued a similar looking setup on the coin... see last image below). On that note... That portrait's backdrop field was awfully shiny compared to the matte appearance of the coin. I looked up the coin and found that there were two versions, the regular one with 2M in circulation, and a proof one with only 200 (!) issued. Looking up various photos online, I realized that the field of the incused portion of the portrait is mirrored while everything else is matte... Am I missing something or do I have a 1/200 proof issued coin? At the same time, I think it's too good to be true, as the two types are very similar. The reverse of mine looks like the MS version, while the obverse appears to be the Proof version. Does this make it an error? What's going on? 1973 Venezuela 10 Bolivares Proof, struck by the Royal Canadian Mint: According to NGC's article (link below), the business strike and the proof strike should like this, respectively. Which one does mine look like? https://www.ngccoin.com/news/viewarticle.aspx?NewsletterNewsArticleID=2815 Venezuela 1973 10 Bolivares MS Click images to enlarge. Venezuela 1973 10 Bolivares PF Click images to enlarge.
looks like proof to me.. look at the lettering for mint state.. its shiny in the letters for proof its matte.
*Fingers crossed*! The jawline and earlobe on mine looks like NGC's proof obverse example. Those two features look noticeably different on the business strike example. EDIT: Also, the area behind the ear connecting to the jawline is also shallow on mine, as seen on the proof example. Whereas, the business strike example has a deeper and wider ridge there. The same's true of the mid-neck area.
1000 kroner year 2000 - proof only issue, 150,000 made. I have no idea where you got your 2 million normal and 200 proof numbers from.
I'm going with MS due to the depth of the hairlines on your coin compared with the two provided examples.
I mean no offense, but that new U.S. Coin is straight up ugly. The laser engraver didn't even try. On the other hand, the '73 Venezuela coin is simply stunning, I've never seen that one before. And I agree with the new die MS call.
None taken. I think it's a wonderful coin with a different style. But mostly I got it because that cattle/bovine creature looks hilarious.
