Difficult to Grade Coins —
Mint State vs. Nickel Proofs of the 1870s and 1880s

Grading U.S. coins consistently and accurately is usually not easy. However, some series lend themselves to a rather quick learning curve and some proficiency can be gained with only a moderate amount of practice and study. Other series have particular issues that make them considerably more difficult to master.

Over the past two months, we’ve taken a look at a number of tough series that presented special challenges to our graders. Some of the issues concerned planchet quality, some concerned die clashing and strike problems. Others dealt with inherent design characteristics, and still others addressed chronic appearance anomalies that must be considered when grading.

In this, our final installment, we’ll take a look at a problem that may come as a surprise to many collectors — distinguishing between Proof and Mint State nickel coins of the 1870s and 1880s. "Now wait," I hear many of you saying, "telling Proofs from Business Strikes is easy. Proofs have mirror surfaces, right?"

If it were only that simple...

To begin with, business strike mintages for many of the Three and Five cent nickel pieces during the late 1870s and 1880s were extremely low. In some cases, more Proofs were struck than circulation strikes. For example, the 1885 Three Cent Nickel had a mintage of only 1,000 business strikes but 3,790 Proofs! (That was the third consecutive year that Proof strikes outnumbered business strikes.) The 1880 Shield Nickel saw nearly 4,000 Proofs made but only 16,000 business strikes. With most of the business strikes having entered circulation, Proofs today are far more common. In fact, according to the latest Redbook, an 1880 Nickel in VG-8 has a higher value than a Proof 63!

With such tiny mintages made for circulation, Proof dies were often used for the few additional pieces needed for the year. This makes diagnostic die analysis nearly impossible. Since the dies had been polished, many business strikes display mirror-like fields. Since so few pieces were struck, die wear was not a problem and many circulation strikes display fully-struck, sharp details, as well.

When Proof surfaces are allowed to tone and dull over time, they can often begin to resemble the satiny fields of non-Proofs. There is certainly a financial incentive to get many coins of these types into a far more valuable Mint State holder than a Proof holder.

So with this said, we’ll take a look at a few examples, and you’ll hopefully see why separating Proofs from business strikes isn’t so easy.

This first one sure looks Mint State, complete with light rub and non-reflective appearing fields. Only trouble is 1878 was a Proof-only issue. So not a tough call here.

Razor sharp strike, light frosting, reflective fields. Proof? Nope. Mint State.

Full, sharp strike, nearly reflective looking fields. But another coin we called Mint State.

Don’t let the satiny luster fool you. This one is a Proof.

Another tough one. Despite a subdued surface, here’s another Proof.

Another super sharp strike, with semi-reflective fields. However, it’s a Mint State example.

Follow Along with the Entire "Difficult to Grade" Series