Business vs proof strikes...How can you tell which is which

[creilly]

OK if you get 2 coins in a roll and they are same year mint etc... and 1 in business and one is proof how can you tell which is which?

[coppercoins]

Proof coins are mirror shiny and will usually have a frosted bust and letters. Furthermore, all proofs from 1968 to date are S mint.

What year are you talking about - it'll help me round down a good explanation for you.

[Dick]

Cathy, and CD, how are you both this evening? I was going to tell her that if she has any proof sets, to compare the coins with any coin from her pocket. She will notice, as you said that the coins are like small mirrors, and usually have frosty appearance. This is a result of the minting process. Proof coins are struck two, or more times to bring out the detail, wheras the mint, and business strikes, are, (now) struck only once. Hope this helps.
Dick

[creilly]

I guess I was reffering to it in a general sense.

Humm cant business strikes be mirrored?
AlsoI thought the coins we struck 3 times each, you know smack smack smack...done. If a business strike is only struck once.. how could you get machine doubling?

[ldarrellc]

Machine doubling comes from the hub vibrating or shifting during that first stike........ if I am not mistaken. I am learning here to

[coppercoins]

Business strikes sometimes come out with a semi-mirror shine, but they are still easy to discern from proofs. Proofs have a very shiny and pristine mirror shine. The rims will be sharp on a proof as well, and usually will not be on a business strike. Once you've see a couple of proof coins, their identity will be unmistakable from that point on. They are easy to tell.

Proof coins are struck more than once. Business strike coins are only struck once.

Machine doubling comes from a loose die in the coining press. Machine doubling is also called 'die chatter' because it generally comes from the die rattling around when it slams into the coin.

The "hub" is used in the process to make a die...not to make a coin. A hub is a positive relief design cut into a steel bar. That steel bar is pressed into the die to make a negative impression design. That steel bar is in turn used to mint the coins.

[ldarrellc]

okay I should have said die instead of hub

[creilly]

thank you!!

[walkingdude]

[quote="coppercoins"] The rims will be sharp on a proof as well, and usually will not be on a business strike.

Does the multi-striking cuase the sharper rims?

[smed]

Probably not by purposeful design. Striking two or more times brings up the design more fully, causing the metal to flow, and it has to go somewhere.

[Earwig]

Also isnt the proof cent struck on a thicker plancet cuz u can only get 48 in a tube

[eagames]

I think the planchets are the same but being struck better makes the rims higher.

[walkingdude]

[smed]

Die caps are caused by the planchet getting stuck on the die.