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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;lordmarcovan, post: 2948664, member: 10461&quot;]&quot;MS&quot; stands for <i>Mint State</i>.&nbsp; This is for <i>business strike</i> coins; in other words, coins that were made to be used in circulation, with no special care taken by the mint in creating them.</p><p><br /></p><p>&quot;PR&quot; stands for <i>Proof</i>.&nbsp; &quot;Proof&quot; is not really a grade; it is a method of manufacture.&nbsp; A proof coin is specially made as a presentation piece or for collectors.&nbsp; It is struck on a polished blank, with greater pressure, and is made to much higher quality standards than a business strike.&nbsp; Since Proof coins are inherently nicer by their very nature, a high grade like PR68 or PR69 and such is not uncommon.</p><p><br /></p><p>But on a <i>business strike</i> coin, the higher Mint State grades (MS67, -68, -69, etc) are much less common and even rare in some cases, since these coins were not made with any special care, and were just intended to go into circulation.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p>No, not really.&nbsp; Since &quot;MS&quot; means &quot;Mint State&quot;, it implies that it is a (business strike) coin that has remained in the same condition as it was when it left the mint.&nbsp; This typically means no wear from circulation.&nbsp; However, the coin might in fact <i>have</i> actually circulated, but not enough to cause any wear.&nbsp; A Mint State coin can have some contact marks, but no wear.</p><p><br /></p><p>This is the problem with the older (and slightly confusing) &quot;Uncirculated&quot; terminology, and the reason (I think) that the modern grading services adopted the &quot;Mint State&quot; term instead.&nbsp; You see, you can pull a Mint State coin out of circulation, if you get to it before it&#039;s had any wear.</p><p><br /></p><p>Does any of that make sense?[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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