Can't really tell if the Blue Ridge is a proof or business strike. It doesn't have the look of a proof but it's from circulation, so I don't know. I think it's a business strike. Anybody with a better eye than me know?
The S mint mark is for proofs. I don't think there were circulating issues with it. But is it silver?
I cringe when I see people reach into change return bins looking for coins but that's just me of course....
No, it's not silver. From 2012 through to the remainder of the series, San Francisco minted non-proof (business strike?) coins. That's what I was wondering if this is. I think it is. It doesn't have the frosty and mirror-like surfaces of a proof. Either way, it's nice to find in the wild.
I definitely always wash my hands! LOL. This is a laundromat. I stick the currency in the machine and the quarters come piling out, so there's going to be some contact. After I do a coin dump in the machine at the credit union, I ALWAYS wash afterwards. You wouldn't believe the amount of people I've seen go before me and take their ticket straight to the teller. Yuck! I go straight to the restroom and wash!
Usually the proofs are very easy to distinguish, even heavily impaired. I stopped collecting US coins a while back, so I don't really know lots of the ins and outs of modern issues.
