NP - My only certified Lincoln cent (1937 proof cameo)
Catbert
Posts: 7,349 ✭✭✭✭✭
I received my new piece yesterday from DLRC and thought I'd share it here. I bought this to go along with two other proof coins of the same date in order to build a proof set for 1937. As I take on this project, I've been blessed with the assistance of our own @FlyingAl who I've solicited to mentor me on this journey since this is his area of focus/expertise. He's been great to know and has been an excellent advisor from which to learn! Mark @MFeld has also examined some other coins of the same date and gave me excellent feedback. Thank you both!
Here are the seller's pics:
Perhaps some day I'll own one of the early Lincoln proofs that do better justice to this design. Such a big difference in the detail shown on Lincoln's bust when comparing the two versions.
If you own a Lincoln proof, please post it in this thread for all to enjoy!
"Got a flaming heart, can't get my fill"
Comments
Beautiful proof! Congrats
I like how you gave a shoutout to those who were able to help steer you in the right direction. I’ve always found Marks @MFeld feedback to be extremely helpful, and it’s awesome that @FlyingAl was eager to share some of his knowledge to aid in your search!
Founder- Peak Rarities
Website
Instagram
Facebook
Wonderful proof, congrats on the addition!
My Collection of Old Holders
Never a slave to one plastic brand will I ever be.
Rare mintage, and yours remains well preserved.
Nice catch!
peacockcoins
That cent beats the devil out of the one I have in my 1937 Proof set. But, I don’t spend big bucks for Proof cents.
My 1936 to ‘42 Proof set goals are less lofty. I punched coins that please me. They range from PR-64 to 67.
Very glad that it worked out so well for you and that I could provide an assist. It seems that the stars were aligned perfectly.
Mark Feld* of Heritage Auctions*Unless otherwise noted, my posts here represent my personal opinions.
That is a beautiful cameo proof. I'd be proud to own that piece.
I'd like to echo the shout out to @MFeld and @FlyingAl also. I don't know them personally, but I've seen great advice given here by both. I have a great respect for them.
Donato
Donato's Complete US Type Set ---- Donato's Dansco 7070 Modified Type Set ---- Donato's Basic U.S. Coin Design Set
Successful transactions: Shrub68 (Jim), MWallace (Mike)
Gorgeous Cameo proof Lincoln. Congrats on the purchase. 3 down and 2 to go for your 1937 set. If you can, post photos of the other 2 coins you have.
Best of luck finding and purchasing the other 2 coins to complete your set.
I have proof Lincolns from 1939-1942, none of which are Cameos.
I do have a number of proof Lincolns from the 1950's many of which are Cameos. Here are some of my favorites from the 1950's (all of them are raw cherrypicks that were graded earlier this year).
1950 PF66RD (IMO this coin is a Cameo, but for the RB designation).
1950 PF66CAMEO
1950 Genuine, Questionable Color (this eye appealing coin has frosted devices and mirrored fields under the multi colored toning)
1951 PF65RB (this eye appealing coin has frosted devices and mirrored fields under the multi colored toning; it glows under good lighting; the Trueview photo does not show the coin well)
1953 PF67CAM, DDO FS-101
1957PF68CAM
1959PF67DCAM
And it's a gorgeous one. I've been slowly adding to this set. I agree that the sharpness of detail on the early proofs is unmatched in the series. Perhaps I'll add another at FUN.
Keeper of the VAM Catalog • Professional Coin Imaging • Prime Number Set • World Coins in Early America • British Trade Dollars • Variety Attribution
Here is my 1937. I saw this on the Collectors Corner site and bought it.
In my experience, this is a really cool and especially rare coin. I'll try to provide a bit of background here in a bit.
When I saw this coin, @Catbert and I had been having a back and forth about possible coins to complete his 1937 cent. I had suggested that he might want to consider a CAM example for the cent, and when this one popped up it was everything I think he wanted. There's some light original tone to the fields that has a haze like quality (this is gaining popularity quickly and is highly prized among specialists). A lot of CAM coins for the era were dipped, so an undipped original one is really hard to come by, particularly in a 66 grade.
There were two dies that I have identified that struck CAM cents in 1937. This coin was from the better of the two dies, which at it's very first use was responsible for producing DCAM coins, the only other year this happened in 1936-42 beside 1942. The die pair can be identified by the reverse striations through ONE and CENT shown here:
Possible use dates were January 5th, March 18th, September 8th, and October 4th. Proof cents are the hardest to narrow down to one day because the TrueViews often don't show contrast, and by relation, the die markers that need to be seen. Striations also often disappear on repolish. Therefore, there's no way to know how many coins that the die struck right now, although with further research I may be able to narrow it down.
All cameos for the era were completely accidental, which accounts for their rarity. 1937 produced the second highest total of cameo cents, behind 1942. This is likely due to the sheer quality of the die pair used to strike this coin, with it producing DCAM coins. It likely lasted much longer striking cameo coins than the average cameo die. To strike a cameo coin, the dies used must both be brand new, and must not have had the frost polished off of the devices during die preparation. This rarely occurred, and most dates and denominations only had one or two die pairs that produced cameo coins, usually under 30 (this is my estimate). Some dates had no die pair capable of striking cameos at all.
There are multiple instances of the medal room workers taking a new pair of dies, and polishing it so much that it was unusable. The dies never struck a coin and they were worn out. That shows it was a small miracle that the die technician was able to produce dies that were capable of producing cameo coins and they happened to be paired together (when they were new). As the years go on, this gets better as the techs get more experience and get better at polishing dies.
The average 1937 cent has quite a few unattractive spots, weak detail, or both. Not many show the original color of the coins without a multitude of black spots, so this coin is very attractive for not only the grade but for the year and denomination. I mean it when I say that 1937 cents don't come much nicer at all.
Congrats on a great NEWP!
Coin Photographer.
That's a beautiful coin! Here's my 1964. The holder is pretty ugly.
Young Numismatist
It's beautiful!
In honor of the memory of Cpl. Michael E. Thompson
First and most importantly, CONGRATULATIONS on obtaining such a phenomenally gorgeous coin. So few PR66RD’s garner the CAM suffix. Having a Cameo Proof Lincoln truly shows off the artistry, and that coin is 85 years old! Additionally, by meriting the CAC sticker, as you know, that means three things in CAC’s opinion:
If CAC felt it was not solid for any one of those three attributes, they would not have stickered it! As such, that’s why there’s only 10 that exist in that complete grade that merit a CAC sticker (including those graded by NGC)! You were so smart to be open to accepting the help of @FlyingAl and @MFeld !
You asked, so here’s mine. While it’s a 67RD with a CAC, mine is NOT a Cameo:
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Love those near-WW2 CAM proofs. Rare birds....
jom
Very nice proof 😀
Here’s a picture of my baby Not expensive but nice.
🎶 shout shout, let it all out 🎶
Steve,
I usually agree with you on a lot of things (ok, most
), but I'm going to disagree here. As I get more and more into these proofs, you discover that there is no set standard for what makes a proof from 1936-1942 cameo (TPG wise). It varies from grader to grader, and every slab generation or so will let different coins into a CAM holder. This is much more so than any other era, and I believe it will always be the same.
I have not seen any consistency from CAC in what they agree with as CAM. What they sticker as far as CAMs go seems to align with the TPGS. I see what I would call exceptional proofs designated CAM in CAC holders, and there are going to be some very weakly contrasted proofs in those stickers holders as well. I do not believe that CAC stickers exceptional coins for the CAM grade. That's the drawback to the stickers - CAC is going to sticker a 65CAM coin if it's solid for the grade - 65. The low pops could refer to coins simply not being sent to CAC. I am confident in saying that a CAC sticker on this era of CAMs does NOT mean the coin is solid for a CAM.
That's why this era CAM'ed coins are the riskiest coins to crack out. I've seen coins designated CAM, cracked, and then not given the designation. Again - standards for these are like the Colorado weather (we get sun, snow, rain, and clouds in the same day).
Coin Photographer.
Maybe we’re saying the same thing, but maybe we disagree and we’re not saying the same thing.
What I’m saying is that if a coin has a suffix as part of the grade, whether a color and/or a CAM or DCAM designation, CAC will apply their sticker only if in their opinion, the coin is solid for that suffix. MAYBE what you’re saying is you agree with that, but you’re pointing out that you believe CAC’s opinion on many of the CAM designated proofs of this time period is inconsistent. If that’s your point, I’m ok with that. But if your point is that with proofs of this time period CAC will for the most part ignore CAM suffixes and choose to sticker coins if CAC feels the coin is solid only for the numerical grade and color, but they feel is not solid for the CAM suffix, but sticker it anyway, then we respectfully disagree.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Steve,
I’m afraid we may disagree then. I’ll try to clarify. I’m saying CAC will sticker a coin with the CAM suffix - whether or not that coin is solid for the CAM designation. It could be that CAC willingly chooses to do so, or that they are simply unaware of what a strong CAM coin for the era is. I for one sure hope it’s the former rather than the latter.
This is not true with the present coin, which was seemingly struck in the middle of when this die pair was producing DCAM/CAM coins. The coin is strong for the designation.
Coin Photographer.
I don’t mean to beat a dead horse, but just to be clear, you’re saying that CAC will sticker a coin with the CAM suffix - even if in THEIR opinion that coin is not solid for the CAM designation? Put another way, just as CAC policy will currently ignore a “+” as part of a grade, you’re saying they’ll ignore a CAM suffix too, as part of their policy?
Edit - After I reread your prior post, it sounds like you’re really saying they don’t ignore the CAM suffix, but they just are not aware of what a solid CAM is for that generation. I can accept that (at least for now).
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Steve,
Looks like we understand each other!
Coin Photographer.
@Catbert ... That is a really nice PR cent.... Will be interested to see your entire set when complete. Cheers, RickO
A Cameo Wheatie. That is one of a very few that exist, and I really like it.
Pete
Wicked nice, congrats
Here is my 1937 Proof set for better or worse. I collected these sets with the idea of putting together something nice without breaking the bank. For that reason, Cameos were off the table.
Cent, NGC PR0-65. Red
Nickel, PCGS PR-67, I had this as a type coin already. It has no color, but it's about as good as day it was made. The prices have come down in these over the past 20 years, so I am buried into it.
Dime, NGC PR-64.
Quarter, PCGS PR-65
Half Dollar, NGC PR-65
@Catbert CAM and DCAM wheat cent proofs are tricky. I really like the '37!
I am a newer collector (started April 2020), and I primarily focus on U.S. Half Cents and Type Coins. Early copper is my favorite.
Very nice!