I know, the rims are not EXACTLY like a proof in all places. But it does LOOK proof. When I have the coin in hand, I will look for die markers. Not a bad buy for 40 dollars. IF proof.
If it's not in a holder that says "Proof" there's a 99.999% chance it's a standard business strike. Nice tone, though, and $40 is a decent price either way.
Hi SilverStackerKid! I know you from the CCF! Anyway, I do not think that is a proof. Is that graffiti on the obverse?
It has a lot of detail, but I'm not seeing any of the diagnostics. It doesn't matter how much it resembles a proof VDB, without the diagnostics it isn't one. With as much detail as this coin is showing it should be very easy to answer you own question.
For reference, this is what a real MPL looks like. It's inside a slab so a little funny at the rims and I think this is actually a super rare MAD Charmy posted..but the look is what tells.
My pictures suck, they are from when I was just learning how to take coin photos....but....here's one of the "proof-like" 09VDB's I own. The coin doesn't look odd and cleaned in hand (like I said about the pictures) but you can see the features that can trick - like pretty square rims and frosty fields. It is my theory(ies) that one of two things occurred at the mint: 1) They used the proof dies for business runs but used non-prepared planchets, different coining machines, older worn collars and machine settings. This could have produced EDS business strikes that show the "proof-like" appearance. On the dies, the frosted fields (and other proof features) would wear-out quickly producing "normal" coins from there. The mint probably doubted anyone one would notice since the first few off the line were surely mixed in with normal looking coins. I believe there are so many PL survivors (this topic comes up a lot) because these were the "shinny penny" people coveted back in the day. Between all the hype over the new cent and finding a pretty penny - a good number of these have seemed to survive over the decades. 2) The mint experimented with sand blasting the dies early on and later decided to stop doing it after just one or two die sets were exhausted. The coins are also just hammered, the mint was probably not too worried about die life at first so they used high striking pressures. Eventually, in an effort to increase the dies lifespan, the mint gradually reduced pressures. This is most evident in the 20's when dies were more scarce.
It was common practice to put Proof dies into Business Strike production with other issues; I have no trouble believing it happened with 1909 Lincolns. I also have no trouble with $40 for this coin. In fact, if I'd seen it first you'd never have bought it, SSK.