1950 Satin Proof or ??

[ray_parkhurst]

I purchased this coin I believe in 1989 from a dealer in Fair Oaks, CA. It looked really special to me, different from other business strikes I've seen. I was doing Kointains at the time (we all go through the various holder phases) and it has resided in that same Kointain ever since. I've always thought it was a Satin Finish Proof, of which a few were struck in 1950 and possibly later years, but never looked it over really well. I finally got it out and although I refuse to remove it from the Kointain it seems to image OK through the plastic. Now, the edges of the coin have the semi-polished look of a Proof strike, but the rims are not fully struck-up and square. Is it a Proof? Some sort of test or presentation strike? It's clearly an early strike from a new set of dies, and all features are fully struck-up and have a semi-cameo appearance. I'm curious what folks think this thing might be...

[BadThad]

This is a proof, 100% sure. In 1950 a few of the 50k or so proofs made had a "hybrid" finish, i.e. a mix of grainy satin and mirror like. I think these are EDS examples. As the production moved on the dies lost the grain/frosting and became the more common mirrored type.

[liveandievarieties]

I can't see it being anything other than a proof, it's quite impressive. Want to sell it Ray???

[jcuve]

This is not an area of my expertise, but the coin, while nice and wonderfully photographed, seems to be a nice proof and not a satin proof.

[ray_parkhurst]

This is a proof, 100% sure. In 1950 a few of the 50k or so proofs made had a "hybrid" finish, i.e. a mix of grainy satin and mirror like. I think these are EDS examples. As the production moved on the dies lost the grain/frosting and became the more common mirrored type.

That's a good description of the finish. It has a small amount of reflectivity below the satiny finish, but the general appearance is grainy and frosty. The dealer who sold it to me (experienced dealer with inexperienced customer...) sold it as a business strike. As I remember I paid all of $3 for it. After getting it home and learning more about the characteristics of proofs, especially the edges and rims, I decided it was one of the early satin proofs, but I've always had lingering doubts primarily because the rims are not wide, square and sharp as later proofs, even other 1950 Proofs I've seen.

[ray_parkhurst]

I can't see it being anything other than a proof, it's quite impressive. Want to sell it Ray???

Thanks, but probably not. It's one of the coins that forms the "cornerstone" of my Lincoln collection due to my history with it.

[Maineman750]

My question is : How do you guys read these threads with the huge pictures ? I can see exactly half the thread/picture without scrolling. Is there a quick way to reduce everything ?

[willbrooks]

My question is : How do you guys read these threads with the huge pictures ? I can see exactly half the thread/picture without scrolling. Is there a quick way to reduce everything ?

It's easy to do on my laptop, but after I shrink it to fit, I need my microscope to read the text.

[jallengomez]

My question is : How do you guys read these threads with the huge pictures ? I can see exactly half the thread/picture without scrolling. Is there a quick way to reduce everything ?

Buy a bigger monitor

I can see the whole coin on my monitor.

[Maineman750]

Mine is 27"....I would need a bigger desk and house as well if were to get a 54" monitor.What confuses me is that I never have this problem on any other websites.

[ray_parkhurst]

Mine is 27"....I would need a bigger desk and house as well if were to get a 54" monitor.What confuses me is that I never have this problem on any other websites.

My monitor is a 23" and it all fits fine. These are a little bigger than what I usually publish. They are 1750x1750, and the largest I usually publish is 1600x1600. But it's not monitor "size" that matters, it's the resolution. My 23" is 2048x1536 native, but The image still fits OK if I set to 1920x1080. What is the resolution on your monitor, 1280x720 or maybe 1024x768? If so, then all I can say is "buy a higher resolution monitor". Tradeoff is that all the text gets smaller and harder to read. In that case, "buy a bigger and higher resolution monitor". Ultimately I suppose I should stick with 1000 pixels or smaller, as I don't think folks have issues at that size, correct?

[liveandievarieties]

The coin is about 3x the size of my laptop monitor, so I went out and bought a 42 inch monitor to see it, and now the coin is over 4 feet wide!

Great pictures though Ray, I'd be really curious to see what grade PCGS woudl give it. I'd send it in along with a half a dozen high grade 50Ps and see if they give you an MS69, seriously. They may not recognize it as a proof, or they may indeed. Very interesting coin, I don't blame you for not wanting to sell it. Do you want $200 for it?? lol.

[Maineman750]

OK, now I see,I changed the resolution to make your picture fit, but then,like Will, I need a microscope to read the print.What had me puzzled was why I never run into this anywhere else. And honestly, I usually just skip these type posts because they are far and few between....and I really don't want to spend even more for the few times it happens. I just wondered if there were some automatic settings that would eliminate the problem. I believe I remember Jason recommending 800 pixals wide to a few newbies,but don't know where that number came from. Thanks for the tips Ray, at least I know where the problem is.

Almost forgot,mine is 1440x990

[ray_parkhurst]

OK, I changed the resolution down to 864x864, so should be easier to see on whole screen...Ray

[simonm]

Lookin' good. Beautiful coin and pics, Ray!