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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;Insider, post: 5403694, member: 24314&quot;]GoldFinger1969, posted: &quot;Well, at least on gold and silver coins.&nbsp; They have the deep-mirror look...that&#039;s what I meant.&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #660033">A prominent deceased numismatist once paraphrased something I&#039;ve heard expressed since.&nbsp; We all tend to judge things from our time on earth.&nbsp; Things went on before we were born and will continue after we are gone.&nbsp; For example, I cannot comment with any authority about numismatics in the 1950&#039;s except what I have read by researchers and folks who were alive back then.&nbsp; So I&#039;ll repeat that all gold and silver proofs DO NOT have a mirror look in spite of what you posted.</span> <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /> </p><p><br /></p><p>GoldFinger1969, posted: &quot;<i>How the hell can they/we even TELL that PR40 coin is a proof ?&quot;&nbsp; </i></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #660033">They can USUALLY tell by the die used to make the coin.&nbsp; In some cases a die used to strike Proofs is used to strike MS specimens</span></p><p><br /></p><p>GoldFinger1969, posted: &quot;Right, that&#039;s what confusing to some of us who are NOT experts or are doing this for a shorter period of time.&nbsp; In my collecting experience since the 1970&#039;s, proof means those super-polished mirror-like fields that can look black on coins and very reflective and shiny on silver.</p><p><br /></p><p>So when I see the Proof Saints or Morgans without that look, it can get very confusing.&nbsp; And leads me to wonder how a grader like you, Insider, can tell that a coin like that one above (the PF40) is a proof when even if it had been better preserved and were in Mint State it wouldn&#039;t have the reflectivity and shiny mirrors that easily identify modern proofs.&quot;</p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #660033">Answered above by another member.</span></p><p><br /></p><p>Do you look for special swirling lines or finish ?</p><p><br /></p><p>This is NOT an exact science, BTW...look at the controversy on &quot;Proof&quot; Saint-Gaudens [<b><span style="color: #660033">1907 HR</span></b>] coins, for instance.&nbsp; NGC says they exist, PCGS says they don&#039;t.&quot; </p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #660033">So one of them is wrong</span>.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie8" alt=":D" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" /></p><p><br /></p><p>GoldFinger1969, asked: &quot;What kind of &quot;die markers&quot; or identifiers, Jaelus ?</p><p><br /></p><p>The way the coin looks compared to business strikes...swirls on the finish especially in the fields....?</p><p><br /></p><p><i>Also, isn&#039;t it somewhat surprising that a Proof Morgan -- usually handled by expert collectors -- got mishandled over the decades to a 40 ?&nbsp; <b>The Proofs usually went straight to the people who&#039;d preserve them as close to original Mint State as possible, no ?&quot;</b></i></p><p><br /></p><p><span style="color: #660033">I guess this statement is not true in all cases</span>.&nbsp; <img src="styles/default/xenforo/clear.png" class="mceSmilieSprite mceSmilie2" alt=";)" unselectable="on" unselectable="on" />[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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