How can you tell the difference between a 1963 Jefferson uncirculated mint nickel and a 1963 Jefferson proof nickel if both coins are raw. Or any Jefferson mint and proof nickel for that matter. I guess what I'm asking is: If someone tried to pass off a proof coin as being a mint coin, how could you tell?
By looking at the surfaces of the coin. Proof coins are highly poilished - business strike coins are not.
The coin in question is in a cellophane mint wrap set. The set is from 1963 and came in a brown envelope. There is an octagonal tag that says "*U*S* MINT PHILADELPHIA. Although the coins are shiny and new looking none of the coins have a cameo effect and no "mirror" to them. The nickel has an even, sort of very pale golden tone to it that have seen on other nickels. The reason I ask if it is a proof or not is that the coinis practically flawless with 6 perfect steps.
Wait a minute, if it were a 1963 Jefferson from a mint set wouldn't it have either a D or nothing under the date(meaning philly)? And the proof set coin would be marked with an "S". What am I missing? For example, I pulled this coin out of circulation yesterday. It is a proof both because of the highly shined background and the "S" mint mark.
Proof sets were made at Philly until 1964. There were no proof sets issued from 1965-67, and in 1968, the SF mint began producing them. From what the OP is describing, it sounds like a proof set. The proof sets I have seen from the 1960s come in brown envelopes while the mint sets are in white envelopes. GDJSMP's reply is spot on.
Nope. The San Francisco mint did not start producing Proof sets until 1968. The 1963 proof set has no mint mark. The Mint sets had a round gray disc that identified the mint, Philly or Denver. The Proof set had the octigonal ID disc. "U.S. Mint, Philadelphia". IPI beat me to the answer.
