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think of! Let''s take a brief look at these five areas, and how cameo''s rate in relation to other U.S. coinage. There are few coins in numismatics as attractive as a cameo proof. While some may disagree with this statement, there is no disputing the opinions of literally thousands of collectors and dealers already familiar with this coinage. Proof coins themselves are minted specifically for collectors. As such, they have always represented the state-of-the-art in minting techniques. The mint has always gone to considerable trouble to produce these coins. Proof dies are highly polished and buffed until the surfaces possess a mirror-like perfection. Planchets go through extra steps in their preparation, until they too possess a brighter, satiny appearance. Traditionally, proof planchets have been hand-fed into the die, and have always been double struck, under higher pressures than business strikes, to bring out every possible detail. Once struck, the coins are handled individually so as not to abrade with other coins, as business strikes normally would. Cameo proofs were the very earliest strikes off new proof dies. During certain periods in the history of the mint, part of the die preparation process

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 coinware 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 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, as it very hard to pay too much for coins that offer the collector the

devoted to it. Here is one final, very important similarly between the Morgan dollar series and the Cameo Proof series: In grading prooflike Morgan dollars, the two largest grading services in the nation, PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation), offer two grades of prooflike for that series - "DMPL" (Deep Mirror Prooflike) - for the very earliest strikes off the business die, and a simple "PL" (Prooflike) - for the slightly later strikes. PCGS and NGC now offer a similar delineation for all proof coinage from the 1950 to 1970 era. As of early February, 1992, PCGS offers two cameo designations for early strike cameo proofs - "DCAM" (Deep Cameo - roughly equivalent to what we refer to as "ultra-heavy") - for those cameo proofs which were the very earliest strikes off the proof die, with the heaviest contrast, and a simple coinware "CAM" (Cameo) designation for those coins which were slightly later strikes, but which still possess significant cameo contrast. NGC instituted their own two-tier system similar to PCGS'' in the spring of 1995. With PCGS and NGC now involved, novices will for the first time have their coins recognized coinware by the most widely used grading service in

Click HERE for access to the Internet's most reputable source for rare coins and proofs, along with other numismatic advice. We have extensive collections of both domestic and international coin currencies, and all the latest market information to keep you on top of the game.