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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;messydesk, post: 3173128, member: 1765&quot;]This is not a realistic definition of &quot;specimen,&quot; as there are coins made since 1817 that have a &quot;special fabric&quot; yet were not made or authorized as proof coins.&nbsp; This is one of them.&nbsp; The first strikings of the Morgan dollar in Philadelphia, which were specially prepared 1-offs are also accurately considered to be specimen coinage.&nbsp; Accounts of the day note that after the ceremonial coins were struck, the presses were run at normal speed.&nbsp; There is no reason not to refer to the initial special coins as specimen strikes.&nbsp; The authorized branch mint proof Morgans of 79-O, 83-O, 93-CC, and 21-S were not made on medal presses, as the branch mint didn&#039;t have these, but they could figure out how to make special coins.&nbsp; Even the SMS coins of 1965-67 fit the description of not being proof coinage but having many characteristics of proof coinage.&nbsp; Some of these later coins have an easier claim to the &quot;specimen&quot; definition than some of the pre-1817 coinage.</p><p><br /></p><p>Bottom line is that even though actual proof coinage in the US started in 1817, there is no reason to reserve the term &quot;specimen&quot; exclusively for special coins made earlier, as there are coins made since that need to be described as what they are.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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