I dont avidly collect Barber design coins and they dont exactly have a resource for die pairings that i can find, so Im asking for opinions on this 1892 Quarter. It is nice, even though it has signs of an old cleaning. As such the fields are not reflective. The rim is evenly square with a fin and no tapering but rather sharp edges. The strike seems very solid and the reverse star orientation matches that of the proofs, but that can also be seen on business strikes as well. I have spent three days comparing proof and business strike photos and at this point Im probably just losing my mind or I already have. So just curious about opinions. Thanks in advance.
and i forgot to add that it is a very nice coin. i l like it a lot. no, i am not looking for new best friend points. it really is. it has been kicked around a little, with a few bumps and bruises and rim bouncing, but so what. i will pm my address.
Looks like a business strike that just happens to be in nice shape. What concerns me though are the disruptions/slight abrasions on the obverse.
Business strike. I don't see the sharpness that one would expect from a Proof. Here are a couple of examples. 1895 Proof Quarter 1913 Proof Quarter
Doesn't appear to have the full sharpness in the wing feathers that the 1895 and 1913 proofs that JohnMiltion posted have.
You should see my 1892. It's probably AG-03. Yours is a beautiful coin. Sorry, too lazy to take it out of the flip.
That is a very nice coin with a pleasing appearance regardless of the "old cleaning". It is a Business Strike with Type II Reverse and not a proof. Aside from the lack of a square Rim and requisite sharpness of the Details, the spacing of the Denticles is too far apart vs. the 1892 Type II Reverse Proof. In the early days of the Philadelphia Mint the creation of Hubs and Dies was laborious, relatively expensive, and problematical (e.g. early failure due to improper alloying, heat treatment, and impurities due to the use of coal or coke-fired furnaces and a dirty atmosphere) so the Mint would try to use any and all Hubs and Dies that were still "serviceable" until failure, frequently re-engraving details or polishing the fields, and that is why certain series have Die Varieties or VAMs, or show prooflike fields. To meet production quotas, Proof Dies--after the required number of proofs were struck for the orders that were received for that year--were sometimes placed into service for Business Strikes; for those coins the details may be sharper but without a true square Rim, the PUPs (Pick-up Points) unique to the Proof design would be present, but the mirrored fields--if present--would not be as deep because the Planchets would not have been specially prepared, and the striking pressure for the SINGLE strike would be less than the Medal Press used for the DOUBLE strike of Proof coins.
