1868 U.S. Half Dime proof or mint strike?

High ms 63 i think

 

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My instinct said it was business. But I have no idea if it is or not,
and neither proof nor business would surprise me.

 

And my reason to post this thread was to enlighten ,to weight out fact from fiction.
Warning any buyers not only half dimes but other coinage to educate them selves to know for a fact that what they ars buying is exactly what they are paying for..be it a proof or ms coin.....not what others want you to believe.
I do not claim to be an expert....to me the term and being a human is an contradiction of terms.
I profess to research your purchases before you pull the trigger.... however it's your money....and in the end your mistake....that said if you can live with it no worries if you can't maybe research is your friend.
Maybe not as sometimes no matter how deep you dig do your questions get answers.
But in the end at least you are happy with your decision. And in the end that's all that matters.

 

Proof
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-6TOZY
MS
https://auctions.stacksbowers.com/lots/view/3-9HOZJ
Here are the two examples I used to determine the date position, also notice the difference in the rim. The proof is centered between the dentils, and Liberty.
A mis aligned strike can produce a wired rim.

 

Both coins were struck with a proof die, again ribbon placement , and Valentine numbers would be the decieding factors.

 

Your right date placement can vary from die to die.

 

And then there's the wild card factor....and even though this is just thikng out side the box....since record keeping was poor at best,and perhasp supervision lacking,who's to say there isn't another die or die marriage in the mix? I am not saying that but anything is possible.
Since the mint director was given the 600 proofs, and dies locked up ,it was up to him to release newly minted proofs to buyers,and store the now proof dies in a safe location. And only under his direction as to them being recommissioned to strike mint state coins. It was also his call to melt or offer unsold items to buyers after the year they were coined.
So 600 proofs minted actual sales 560 and 40 left in inventory those 40 coins offered for sale,or melted to balance his books? Or perhaps placed into circulation? This effected all denominations of seated coinage,not just h-10's.
To my thinking when ever looking at seated coins one should pay very close attention to the entire coin,and study it closly. Yes I get it I am a variety collector and you're not...however again the reason for this thread is awareness of the possibility .

 

The coin in the TrueView is weakly struck. Look at the upper left design on the reverse.

As I wrote before, There are coins that are 100% Proof strikes. The diagnostics at those die states (several hundred coins) are used to ID other Proofs. Yes, there may possibly be some overlap at the beginning of the MS coins but in most cases, Proofs are visually different than MS strikes when in hand.

IMO, there are some coins that are misattributed because a TPGS did not examine a coin (stereo microscope) with due diligence.

Thanks for posting this discussion.