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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;GDJMSP, post: 2063719, member: 112&quot;]Confirming that a given coin is indeed a Proof is almost always a simple matter of just looking at the coin. A Proof will have mirror fields, a business strike will not. A Proof will have sharp, squared rims, a business strike will not. So there is rarely a case where a coin cannot be positively identified as a Proof with just a glance at the coin. That said, yes there are some business strike coins that are proof-like, but even those are obviously not Proofs to anybody who knows coins.</p><p><br /></p><p>For those who don&#039;t know coins, well, a bit of experience goes a long way. And usually even a beginner collector can quickly learn to tell a Proof from a business strike pretty quickly just by viewing the coins, and viewing them in hand, that are already identified as such.</p><p><br /></p><p>But when buying the early Proof sets, Proofs from 1936-42 or 1950-54 - the only sets in cellophane and boxes, one does need to use a bit of caution. The boxes themselves are easily copied and manufactured even today. And they are also fraudulently sealed quite easily with ordinary brown packing tape. The cellophane sleeves that were used to hold the coins are often replaced with modern plastic sleeves because the cellophane sometimes becomes brittle, cracked, and even falls apart at times. And yes, I have even seen cases where the original coins in the sets were replaced coins of lesser quality and or replaced with business strikes.</p><p><br /></p><p>The point I am trying to make is that because of the values of these early Proof sets it is not uncommon for the unscrupulous to try and take advantage of the less knowledgeable. I collected original Mint and Proof sets for decades and I can tell you that I have seen just about every trick that you can imagine. Even some of the later sets that were originally packaged in pliofilm - the flat packs - even those have been copied with modern manufacturing methods and put together in an effort to fool buyers. </p><p><br /></p><p>So one would be wise to not buy these sets until they have acquired the necessary knowledge to correctly identify them by themselves, or, to only buy them from trusted and respected dealers.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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