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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 2780706, member: 10461&quot;]Good point.&nbsp; We Americans are often insular and too forgetful of how things are in other parts of the world.&nbsp; There are certainly far more collectors in the so-called &quot;developed world&quot;.&nbsp; I read an interesting <a href="http://www.antiquesage.com/intriguing-relationship-coin-prices-gdp/" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.antiquesage.com/intriguing-relationship-coin-prices-gdp/" rel="nofollow">article</a> recently about that.</p><p><br /></p><p>As to how long a proof coin stays a proof, the answer is <i>forever</i>.&nbsp; Once a proof, always a proof.&nbsp; You see, &quot;proof&quot; is a <i>method of manufacture</i>, not a condition.</p><p><br /></p><p><a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/1858-Indian-Shield-Rev-Cent-Pattern-Judd-J-212-PCGS-PR06-CAC-Lowball-Proof-1c-PF-/292095099524?hash=item4402398284:g:NccAAOSwZd1VYUqa" target="_blank" class="externalLink ProxyLink" data-proxy-href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/1858-Indian-Shield-Rev-Cent-Pattern-Judd-J-212-PCGS-PR06-CAC-Lowball-Proof-1c-PF-/292095099524?hash=item4402398284:g:NccAAOSwZd1VYUqa" rel="nofollow">This coin</a>, for example, is a proof that got circulated.&nbsp; Its grade is PR06 - that&#039;s a 6 on the Sheldon grading scale of 1 to 70!&nbsp; But it&#039;s still a proof, because that refers to the way it was <i>made</i>, not the condition it&#039;s in.&nbsp; (It also happens to be a rare pattern coin, but that&#039;s beside the point.)&nbsp; Again, &quot;proof&quot; refers to how a coin was made.</p><p><br /></p><p>It&#039;s like the soldier metaphor I used earlier.&nbsp; Take that Indian cent pattern I just linked to.&nbsp; That particular soldier was issued wearing his finest dress uniform (in other words, the coin was issued as a proof).&nbsp; He did not wear his combat fatigues (in other words, this was not a regular strike designed to circulate).&nbsp; But he still ended up going into battle (circulation) anyway, so now his dress uniform is all worn out!&nbsp; But that doesn&#039;t change the fact that the coin is a proof, even though most proofs will grade over 60 on the Sheldon scale (PR63, PR65, etc.)&nbsp; To see a PR06 is unusual, since few proofs circulated.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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