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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;airedale, post: 164796, member: 4695&quot;]Skinny I think your question is an excellent one and in my humble opinion Ultra Cameo, also known as Deep Cameo coins are the Cream of The Cream, the very best. There are some provisions you need to know and this has become an area of study to me and I will share these few facts I have learned. I think only NGC uses the Ultra Cameo designation while PCGS and the other grading services use Deep Cameo for the same type of characteristics these coins display. I have seen 2 PCI coins designated Ultra Cameo but am not sure why.</p><p><br /></p><p>1. As Speedy said almost always they are proof coins, the only exceptions that come to mind are the 1965, 1966 and 1967 SMS coins when the mint did not make proofs but made these coins in a special manner with a special type of press they inherited from the Department of Defense. These SMS coins in Deep Cameo&nbsp; are a joy to behold.</p><p><br /></p><p>2. Starting in the mid to late 70&#039;s all proofs were made by the mint as Deep or Ultra Cameo as they prepared the dies in a special way to get this wonderful effect. So proof coins after say 1978 are expected to be Deep Cameo and really no great deal, they were just made in that beautiful manner.</p><p><br /></p><p>3. The earliest interest I have are the proof sets that started in 1936 and to find a Deep or Ultra Cameo in those sets through 1974 or so is really a great find and I think someone will be willing to pay you very handsomely for it in the future.&nbsp; I believe there are earlier coins like Trade Dollars that can be found in at least Cameo but that area is beyond the scope of my study.</p><p><br /></p><p>4. The Deep or Ultra Cameo coins of that 1936 through mid 70&#039;s era were virtually an accident or mistake ( I say that tongue in cheek ) as no special preparation was made. I think they were just the first few coins off of a new set of dies that acquired those lovely frosted devices and deeply mirrored fields.</p><p><br /></p><p>Rick Tomaska has a book called <i><b>Cameo and Brilliant Proof Coinage of the 1950 to 1970 era</b></i> which goes into detail and even estimates how many could exist from this time frame.</p><p><br /></p><p>I called PCGS and ask when they first started with the Cameo designation in their grading and they said around 1990 with Deep Cameo following a year or two later.</p><p><br /></p><p>I hope this has been informative as I just love this type of coin. They really hold my interest because perhaps it was unintentional they were made this way or they are really the true &quot; First Strikes.&quot; I am not sure which reason it is and maybe both.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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