You may be green, but you seem not only wanting to learn but willing to listen. This forum has a vast store of knowledge in it’s members and most are more than happy to answer questions, particularly those of newbies, as long as the newbie is sincere in their search of knowledge. Welcome to the forum!
This is a great explanation and I won’t try to improve upon it. But I will post two examples to show the difference between the business, or circulation, strike, and the proof strike. Business Proof Too bad about the thumbprint on the date.
Man, I love your animations. To the beginners watching this thread, I'll point out 3 things: 1. Notice the smooth mirrored surfaces of the proof versus the lustrous fields of the business strike. 2. Notice the sharp, square rims of the proof versus the rounded rims of the business strike. 3. Notice the crisp, sharp strike on the devices (lettering and images) versus the slightly more rounded devices of the business strike. Sometimes, such as these coins, telling the difference between proof and business strike is quite easy. Sometimes it is more difficult, but that's another thread for another day.
I have two more, slightly more subtle, but fun observations. 4. Look closely at the faint lines on the top coin. These dies are workhorses that stamp out high volumes of cents. Essentially they are part of an industrial process, and they wear and get touched up. These lines are gouged into the die surface by roughly polishing it, creating these faint hairlines. The proof dies get special preparation to ensure highest quality. 5. Proof coins are struck on specially prepared planchet (or blanks). Here’s a typical blank for a business strike coin. It takes a beating as it goes through numerous manufacturing steps. You can see a number of places under the Lincoln Memorial where the marks still show after striking. The proof uses a polished blank to help give that smooth, mirror-like surface.
