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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;giorgio11, post: 838275, member: 17094&quot;]Not all proofs are shiny ... it&#039;s much more complicated than that. The early gold of the 20th century was produced in a matte or sandblast finish (except for 1909-1910, which saw a hybrid Roman or satin finish), as were the Lincolns from 1909-1916. I don&#039;t disagree with what you say at all, though. But the strike is much sharper on proofs, and there are lots of different surface treatments. For some early 19th century coins, it really comes down to, are they early business strikes from prooflike dies, or did the coiner <i>intend</i> to make special/specimen strikes? And the jury is still out on a lot of those historic coins. Even the word &quot;proof&quot; has evolved in auction catalogs over time. Lots of 19th century catalogs used the term &quot;proof&quot; for brilliant Uncirculated or prooflike coins.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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