Clearly this has the pebbled surfaces of a proof planchet, yet for some reason it was labeled as an MS. Is this a labeling error, or did they not start designating proofs with a PR yet at this point when they slabbed it?
No clue, just commenting so I can get updates. Also, I love that an unstruck planchet can have a grade
I am ignorant on the subject of Proof versus Mint State planchets. I was a aware that the Proof planchets had special preparation, but I didn’t know that they were “pebbled.” I would have thought that they were more brilliant. Given the special care that the mint gives to Proof coins, it’s hard to figure out how this got out of the mint after the rims were upset. These coins are packaged in special holders, not run into rolls like the regular pieces. Was this piece in a capsule and plush box? I guess we will never know because it’s been slabbed. If it was in the box, it must have been a shock for owner when it came to him or her like this.
There is no way this wasn't walked out. Could have maybe been part of the San Francisco Hoard, which were all walked out and found years later in a San Fran bank vault.
MS eh? Do they have circulated examples of them? Its hard to spend slugs, and have them spent enough to even get to AU.
I have a couple of these, and this is definitely a proof planchet. Perhaps @Fred Weinberg would weigh in on this subject . . .
I believe the stuff in the San Francisco Hoard were from the late 60's early 70's, much too early for a silver eagle planchet.
Doesn't MS mean Mnt State and is a category of grading? For example, MS65 means Mint State 65 out of 70 possible, or AU = Average Uncirculated , BU= Brilliance Uncirculated, and so on? A proof is meerly a type of coin strike, many mints through out the world produce proof coins. A proof coin would be graded on the same scale as business strikes and an Uncirculated example could be graded as MS65 PR with the PR simply identifying the coin as a proof, pretty sure that's how it work, im no expert so I could be totally wrong about all that or maybe I'm misunderstanding what the OP is getting at with his post, sorry if I've caused any confusion.
About 12 years ago, there was a large hoard of both Silver Eagle and Commemorative Dollar T.2 Planchets that came on the market. Because of the quantities involved, they were graded as MS, instead of the possible proof surfaces that most of them had. I had nothing to to with that decision, but I believe that was one of the reasons. There were probably other reasons also. Yes, PCGS, and NGC, have labeled some planchets as Proof, with the distinctive 'pebbly surface' that proof planchets have. In these two cases, they decided not to grade them as proofs.
