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Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 6221101, member: 101855"]The mint polishes and prepares the dies so that they are all produce deep cameo Proof coins. I would also imagine that the mint retires the dies much more frequently which keeps the images fresh. Proofs that were issued prior to 1936 very frequently had mintages below 1,000 pieces, especially for the silver coins. Therefore the dies remained sharp though out the run. In 1936, the mintage was close to 4,000. From there mintages kept going up year after year. In what could be called an economy move, the mint pushed several thousand coins out of each die instead of several hundred. Dies were also heavily polished, both before they were put in service and during the time they were in service because collectors demanded bright coins. The design details were often lost, but the collectors didn’t seem to complain. For, example one Walking Liberty Half Dollar does not have the designer’s initials and 1942 half dollars are known to be missing Ms. Liberty’s hand which is over her hip. In the 1950s, especially the early ‘50s, the situation continued. Some Proofs from the early 1950s are very shiny but have mushy design details because of die polishing and wear. Over time, the mint has raised its standards and the dies have been greatly improved. This has made the Proof coins sharper and more attractive.[/QUOTE]