I was thinking about the differance between proof and uncirculated coins. Proof coins are made by sandblasting the die and then polishing the fields. Wouldn't this decrease the amount of fine detail, and make the coins farther from the original engraving? It also removes the cartwheeling, which is an artifact of the transfer process, and seems like a nicer finish. Personally, I only collect non-proof coins, although I have a few random proof sets, mostly received as gifts.
Proofs actually have higher quality detail than regular strikes. This is because proof coins are struck twice at a slower speed. Regular strikes are struck only once at a higher speed.
What Anergetic is saying is that while the die polishing smoothes out some of the detail while removing artifacts from the die production, the actual striking process provides a much better design transfer to the coin and the business strike does. Additionally, proof dies are constantly monitored for die fatique whereas business strikes will start to get that orange peel look which eliminates any possibility of a mirror finish. The list goes on for other differences.
Actually, he is right. While business strikes lose fidelity, the polishing process does reduce the fine detail. Good strikes of unc ASE's have more fine detail than proofs. Should I post photo's? Ruben
people just like the prettiness of the proofs, but when it comes to things like commems, the uncs are where the money has been for several years.
I am still waiting for my USMC unc commems to catch up to the proofs. Last i chcecked the proofs were selling for more and the issue price was the same.
