SMS Identification Help

Fropa

I picked-up $470 in half dollar rolls Friday. A few of the rolls contained several proof and silver coins; I'm guessing someone broke-up a collection.



There were 2 1968-S silver proofs and some 1965, 1966, and 1967 proof looking coins that I first thought were from Special Mint Sets.











But I also found 2 1968-D halves that also had a proof look to them



That made me think maybe these coins were just polished since the 1968-D shouldn't have a proof-like version (as far as I know). So is there a way to tell if the halves are SMS or just polished regular halves?

Thanks for the help.

coinman420

its hard to tell because your coins are very "blue" and circulated. i don`t have kennedy sms coins but here are sms washies.

the rims should be sharp and "square" compared to a business strike coin. compare any business strike lincoln to a proof and you will see what i mean.









BTW the 1968 D is a regular strike for sure. SMS was 65 thru 67.

PocketEasyTreasures

SMS examples were struck with different dies that business strike coins and they tend to have proof like surfaces, with well cust letters and numbers. You shoud compare the strike of each coin to determine an SMS from a business strike. You should be able to see the difference with a little comparison.

frnklnlvr

Some nice silver finds!

I can't tell whether or not the 1965-67 halves are SMS. The 1968-D looks like it may have been harshly cleaned which will sometimes give the coin a mirrored look.

Check the 1968-S for an inverted mintmark.

ricko

You have done much better than I ever have when roll searching.... Cheers, RickO

Fropa

Thanks everybody. No inverted S on the 69s frnklnlvr. I compared the proof looking coins with standard coins and the letters and numbers do look sharper. I'll take a couple close-up shots and post them to see if people agree.