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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;RonSanderson, post: 4077164, member: 77413&quot;]This came from an old Capital holder and it’s still there, as it happens.</p><p><br /></p><p>One thing to look for is a bit of consistency between the coins. In this set there is a smattering of toning just around the rim, under GOD WE TRUST and at the same position on the reverse. The quarter has the same toning so it looks like both coins spent decades together as a tiny bit of area leakage caused the toning.</p><p><br /></p><p>You may also see that die polishing has lowered the fields on the die, and started to cut into the fine near-surface details on the die. Look at the left-most hair curl at neck level, where it fades into the field. The eagle on the reverse also seems to fade into the field at some angles, but that fine detail is highlighted at other angles.</p><p><br /></p><p>To judge proof from business strike I would start with the fields. The planchet is polished before striking, so there should not be any low-grade irregularities where the dies mashed down onto uneven surfaces on the planchet. Here you can see the evenness of the mirror fields, disturbed by only the slightest grain pattern from metal flow.</p><p><br /></p><p>Since these were the first proofs struck in 8 years or so, there may be some areas where the mint staff was relearning this craft. You can see just above the clapper that there is some roughness to the strike, between the two sets of bands. The metal of the planchet did not fully fill the die on this strike. Even so, it should be much better than on a business strike.</p><p><br /></p><p>[ATTACH=full]1064149[/ATTACH][/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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