I acquired a set of Eisenhower coins. A complete set of all 32 coins. The 1971 S 40% BU and the 1971 S Proof look the same to me. Same goes for the 1972's, 73's, 74's and 76's. The 71's, for example, one is marked "1971S Silver MS63" and the other is marked "1971S PF63." They did not come in an album but in coin holders. My Dansco #8176 Eisenhower album which has a place for all 32 coins as many of you probably know has holes for 1971 S 40% BU and 1971 S Proof, same for the other years too. Just wondering how the heck one tells them apart. Thanks!
They should not look the same. The MS (BU) coins should have a matte like or satiny finish while the proof coins should have mirror fields and lightly or deeply frosted raised devices.
How do the coins look? You may be in the same boat as me. I pulled my set out and have noticed that my Type 2 proof for 1976 out of a '76 proof set has "hazed" meaning the mirrored fields have gone cloudy and looks almost exactly like my clad silver from a 1976 silver envelope set. Only difference is one would be a PF and one is a clad/silver MS. If this is the case you may have to take the person's word for it. I have the advantage that I already have them in their appropriate album slot before they changed.
Here's a link below and if you scroll down past the coin collection, the guy has a graph with all the proof years etc. Hope it helps! http://coins.sjrdesign.net/collection_01000_eisenhower.html
Beginner question here: where does (did) one find the S BUs that weren't proofs? I know you can get the P and D in the annual mint sets, and the s-proof in the proof set, but where did one buy the UNC-s versions?
