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Numismatics! Your reputable online source for distinguished rare and collectors coins and proof sets is just one click away! Click HERE to browse our extensive catalog of rare coins, complete sets, proofs, uncirculated sets and get reliable market information also! Look here
packaging used for these earlier coins, it almost seems a miracle that any high quality cameos from the 1950 to 1970 era exist at all! The finest cameos, being early strikes off proof dies, are quite simply "the best of the best", for they are not only struck from proof dies, the finest possible dies, but are struck from those dies when they are in their most pristine, unworn state! There could not be a more striking difference between one of these first cameo strikes, and between a coin struck much later off the die - a brilliant proof. If one did not know better, one would think that the two coins were struck from two completely different dies! In a sense, they were. More correctly, they were both struck from the same die, but one coin was struck before that die had experienced the wearing collectingquarters effect of 100''s of tons of pressure of metal on metal, and one coin was struck after that die had experienced those wearing effects. The opportunity of owning scarce, attractive coins that also are the ultimate in quality for their era has a very special appeal to collectors. It also gives these coins tremendous "upside" potential, collectingquarters as it very hard to pay too much for coins that collectingquarters offer the collector the
involved "acid-dipping" the dies before they were polished. collectingquarters The solution used during the 1950 to 1970 period, a bath consisting of 5% nitric acid/95% water, was used to create an acid-etched appearance on the die. When the die was subsequently polished and buffed, the recessed portions of the die, the devices, retained their acid-etched cameo. The very first strikes off one of these new dies would possess a gorgeous, intense cameo effect very similar in quality to the proofs minted today. The raised portions of these early strikes, the devices (on collectingquarters the Franklin half, these would be the bust of Franklin, the lettering, and date collectingquarters on the obverse, and the Liberty bell, eagle, and lettering on the reverse) would display a snow-white cameo effect that would stand in stark contrast to the deep-mirrored fields surrounding them. The flawless, jewel-like quality of the best of these cameos almost look like works of art rather than mere coins! Indeed, to most collectors, these coins are works of art! The frosted devices of these early cameo dies were quite delicate - one could easily scratch a bit of frost from the die with one''s fingernail, and were the first part of the die to wear. Each
successive coin struck from one of these dies would exhibit somewhat less cameo contrast than the coin before. Eventually, the intense pressure of die on planchet would wear the devices to the same smooth, brilliant appearance as the surrounding fields of the coin. These subsequent coins, brilliant proofs, have no discernible contrast between the devices and fields. They are also far more common than the earlier cameo strikes. In recognition of the collector demand for these cameos, the mint began experimenting collectingquarters with sandblasting techniques in the early-mid 1970''s which helped create a much more intense cameo effect. They also began chromeplating the dies to give them added durability. As a result of these new techniques, proof dies today can strike many hundreds of exceptional "black & white" cameos before they begin to wear. What is somewhat astonishing, however, is that if one is patient, and fortunate, one can occasionally find cameos minted from the earlier 1950 to 1970 era that possess the intense cameo contrast, quality, and eye-appeal of these later proofs! These very early strikes, depending on the year, are obviously quite rare. When one also considers the inferior nature of the proof
Look here - Numismatics! Your reputable online source for distinguished rare and collectors coins and proof sets is just one click away! Click HERE to browse our extensive catalog of rare coins, complete sets, proofs, uncirculated sets and get reliable market information also!
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