(your guess is as good as mine). These things have value ? I really think I see a shadow '55 DD ? And the '14D - whaddya' think? (I forget which is which tho')
Clowns - lol. They're just blank cents. What ARE they worth ? How DO they get valued ? Do Pro's even grade them ?
Yes there is. Grade is determined by wear, and for MS by strike/surface marks. Wear is determined by examination of the high points to see if wear has occurred and the surfaces for luster breaks. Planchets DO have high, and they do have a form of "luster". When the blanks are upset it forms that raised "proto-rim". That is a high point which when worn develops a flat area at the top point. With more wear the flat point gets broader. Luster on coins is radial, luster on blanks or planchets is linear, but both are caused by the same thing. movement or stretching of the metal across a microscopically rough surface. On coins it is the surface of the die, on blanks and planchets it is the surface of the strip rollers. On planchets with wear that luster first disappears on the high points, and then it starts dulling and disappearing in the center. Then there are surface marks. Planchets that leave the mint tens to do so in the same bags as coins and will pick up the same type bag/surface marks.