hi all, i'm working on a seated liberty half collection (mostly done). I have a couple of nice looking coins in the AU ballpark which look pretty distinctively sharp and I suspect they could be circulated proofs. My question is: what should I look for to determine this? Anything diagnostic? I guess I could send them in and cough up the 20 bucks to find out, but would prefer to do that only if necessary. thanks andy
Look for square edge, full reeding, sharp denticles, sharp details, mirrors in protected areas (e.g., inside shield). Also look for a mintmark. If you find a mintmark it is NOT Proof. (Some rare exceptions exist.)
Chances are they are simply prooflike business struck coins. Not uncommon for the series. As Hobo said above, the first place I'd look is inside the shield. No mirror=no proof. Then I'd post a photo of the coin here. Then I'd consider having it viewed in-hand by an expert or sending it to a TPG.
