The 100 Greatest (Most Beautiful) Mirror Proof Lincolns
WingedLiberty1957
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Though much promotion and press has been focused on Matte Proof Lincolns (1909-1916) over the past 10 years. (Even I developed a "100 Greatest Matte Proof Lincolns" website in 2011!) Until now, very little has been done on promoting Mirror Proof Lincolns (1936-Current).
Being an enthusiastic collector of colorfully-toned coins and having great interest in attempting to rank colorfully-toned coins by visual appeal (both passions of mine for the past year) -- I wanted to combine these interests into a new sister website (to my Matte Proof Lincoln website) called:
The 100 Greatest (Most Beautiful) Mirror Proof Lincolns
I wanted to mention that in my first endeavor into this realm of ranking coins by visual appeal back in the Fall of 2011 (on the Matte Proof Lincoln website (link)), the ranks were based on a "consensus" vote by a number of major registry set owners and field experts. For this second website for Mirror Proof Lincolns, I wanted to develop a new potentially more "objective" system for ranking the visual appeal of colorfully toned coins.
So the goals of this new website are fivefold:
1. Promote PCGS by emphasizing their expertise in grading coins, which has become (in my opinion) the industry standard. Every coin participating in this "contest" must be PCGS graded.
2. Acknowledge and honor the beauty of PCGS TrueView Photography (a group led by Mr. Phil Arnold). Every coin participating in this "contest" must have a TrueView photo.
3. Promote Lincoln Cent collecting in general. Show collectors just how stunningly beautiful Mirror Proof Lincolns can be.
4. Honor colorfully toned Mirror Proof Lincolns by gathering the most beautiful specimens into a single location, where those that love the many facets numismatics can easily view (gawk at) them.
5. Develop a new "objective scoring system" for ranking the visual appeal of colorfully toned coins -- called the "Flash Index".
6. Make new discoveries about this series based on statistics gleaned from this endeavor. Interesting finds will be summarized on the "Statistics" page.
The first two objectives, I hoped, would serve to promote and ultimately drive more customers to PCGS -- but was actually done to "level the playing field" so each coin listed was actually put through roughly the same "process".
In terms of objective 6, thus far two interesting finds have been made on: a.) the ultra rarity of PCGS graded BN Mirror Proof Lincolns and b.) the Enigma of the Year 1961. Both of these finds are detailed in the "Statistics" section.
So I would be interested to hear any feedback on:
1. this new website in general (layout, content, look and feel, etc.)
2. the new "objective method" (called the "Flash Index") for scoring colorfully toned coins at their most "optimal view angle" (in other words, the view typically captured through photography)
3. any comments on the sheer breathtaking beauty of these colorfully-toned Proofs
A few final notes:
- I do realize that the mintages of these Mirror Proof Lincolns are HUGE and I don't pretend to have captured all of the top coins on this website, but I do think this is a good start.
- Please realize that the ranks shown are based on this PARTICULAR SYSTEM, which includes input from 10 predetermined categories. So the "rank" someone might come up with in their own head could be very different than what I developed, as someone else might emphasize color, mirrors, sparkle, or grade more or less than I did. This is NOT the end-all be-all of ranking, but does, I think, provide at least a preliminary basic framework to make these kinds of judgments.
- Finally note that I have only accumulated coins down to a rank of #80 or so. I left some space because I am expecting to find more beautiful Mirror Proof Lincolns that will be inserted higher up on the list pushing existing coins down.
- Along with the overall rank of 1 to 100. I also have coins separated and ranked by date. Both by the four extended runs: "1936-1942", "1950-1958", "1959-1964", "1968-1975", which shows the general types of coins one sees in each major run of Mirror Proofs; and I have also separated and ranked them by individual dates.
- I cut off the last (final) year shown on this website at 1975. Beyond that date, beautiful, colorfully-toned Proof Lincolns are quite rare and nearly impossible to find.
Being an enthusiastic collector of colorfully-toned coins and having great interest in attempting to rank colorfully-toned coins by visual appeal (both passions of mine for the past year) -- I wanted to combine these interests into a new sister website (to my Matte Proof Lincoln website) called:
The 100 Greatest (Most Beautiful) Mirror Proof Lincolns
I wanted to mention that in my first endeavor into this realm of ranking coins by visual appeal back in the Fall of 2011 (on the Matte Proof Lincoln website (link)), the ranks were based on a "consensus" vote by a number of major registry set owners and field experts. For this second website for Mirror Proof Lincolns, I wanted to develop a new potentially more "objective" system for ranking the visual appeal of colorfully toned coins.
So the goals of this new website are fivefold:
1. Promote PCGS by emphasizing their expertise in grading coins, which has become (in my opinion) the industry standard. Every coin participating in this "contest" must be PCGS graded.
2. Acknowledge and honor the beauty of PCGS TrueView Photography (a group led by Mr. Phil Arnold). Every coin participating in this "contest" must have a TrueView photo.
3. Promote Lincoln Cent collecting in general. Show collectors just how stunningly beautiful Mirror Proof Lincolns can be.
4. Honor colorfully toned Mirror Proof Lincolns by gathering the most beautiful specimens into a single location, where those that love the many facets numismatics can easily view (gawk at) them.
5. Develop a new "objective scoring system" for ranking the visual appeal of colorfully toned coins -- called the "Flash Index".
6. Make new discoveries about this series based on statistics gleaned from this endeavor. Interesting finds will be summarized on the "Statistics" page.
The first two objectives, I hoped, would serve to promote and ultimately drive more customers to PCGS -- but was actually done to "level the playing field" so each coin listed was actually put through roughly the same "process".
In terms of objective 6, thus far two interesting finds have been made on: a.) the ultra rarity of PCGS graded BN Mirror Proof Lincolns and b.) the Enigma of the Year 1961. Both of these finds are detailed in the "Statistics" section.
So I would be interested to hear any feedback on:
1. this new website in general (layout, content, look and feel, etc.)
2. the new "objective method" (called the "Flash Index") for scoring colorfully toned coins at their most "optimal view angle" (in other words, the view typically captured through photography)
3. any comments on the sheer breathtaking beauty of these colorfully-toned Proofs
A few final notes:
- I do realize that the mintages of these Mirror Proof Lincolns are HUGE and I don't pretend to have captured all of the top coins on this website, but I do think this is a good start.
- Please realize that the ranks shown are based on this PARTICULAR SYSTEM, which includes input from 10 predetermined categories. So the "rank" someone might come up with in their own head could be very different than what I developed, as someone else might emphasize color, mirrors, sparkle, or grade more or less than I did. This is NOT the end-all be-all of ranking, but does, I think, provide at least a preliminary basic framework to make these kinds of judgments.
- Finally note that I have only accumulated coins down to a rank of #80 or so. I left some space because I am expecting to find more beautiful Mirror Proof Lincolns that will be inserted higher up on the list pushing existing coins down.
- Along with the overall rank of 1 to 100. I also have coins separated and ranked by date. Both by the four extended runs: "1936-1942", "1950-1958", "1959-1964", "1968-1975", which shows the general types of coins one sees in each major run of Mirror Proofs; and I have also separated and ranked them by individual dates.
- I cut off the last (final) year shown on this website at 1975. Beyond that date, beautiful, colorfully-toned Proof Lincolns are quite rare and nearly impossible to find.
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Regarding the large population of 1961 cents on the site. I too have seen several 1961 proof sets where the penny gets crazy toning like these. I agree that it has nothing to do with third party holders. I have also noticed that many times when I find a 1961 set w/ such toning, the seal between the cent and the US Mint sticker is not complete. Perhaps there is some reaction going on here and if so, maybe the sealing of these sets in '61 wasn't as good as in other years?
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The cent is sitting there right next to the US Mint button. You may have hit on something.
Certainly the population of PCGS slabbed BN Proof Lincolns had a huge spike in 1961 (with a smaller bump up in 1960 and 1962).
The one interesting thing to me though is even given the spike, 37 TOTAL Slabbed BN colored Proof Lincolns is really a very small number in the scheme of things!
In spite of what everyone seems to say about 1961 BN proofs being common, they really aren't ... they are simply a tiny bit less rare than the other years.
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Fascinating that given the incredible population of rainbow target toned high grade 70S proof lincolns - none of them made it here. Are they just not in the registries?
I'm not much into praying but if I were I would wear out my knees parying that you will eventually consider branching out into mint state lincolns and/or indians. There are so few breathtaking pieces, but they are so hypnotizing when you find them. Geesh, all I can do is pray.
Jeff
In terms of my next project, it will be a while as doing this site was a ton of work, but I will take your request under advisement. However I do think this sort of endeavor gets harder and harder as you get into series with higher field populalations.
Just curoius, send me a link to your best biz strike lincoln and indian cent, I would like to see them.
By the way, this is the wildest Target Toned 1970-S I have found to date ... it's one I own (a PR65RB) ... but I think it's too homely to list on a "most beautiful" website (even though it is highly unusual and wildly colored). I suppose I could list it at the bottom of the Honorable Mention page just to record its existance -- but it is almost "hard to look at" (LOL) ... "Cover you eyes, and run!!!"
Here is a photo of the target toned PR67RB 1970-S I recently bought ... however this might not score that high due to an untoned reverse and more subtle obverse coloration. I am curious to see the PCGS TrueView photo though as Phil is a master.
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Sorry, no good lincoln images. But I've just taken steps to change that as Phil has 20 or 30 of my coins as we speak. Just to start.
I enjoyed looking through them.....thanks!! and keep up the great work
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should be interesting to see where this lincoln fits in when he gets his "glamor shot"...kinda nakit without
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I just saw this thread three days after posting on the Coin Forum. It is fine to post this information on the Coin Forum to get maximum exposure, but I would suggest you also post this same information on the Set Registry forum where people can see it over a much longer period of time and may respond and show interest. As you know, on the Coin Forum, unless you get huge interest, your thread will be on page 4 within 2 days. If the topic is of interest to the casual reader of these forums posting also on the Set Registry Forum allows many casual readers to see your post up to a month after you initiate it. JMHO. Steve
My Complete PROOF Lincoln Cent with Major Varieties(1909-2015)Set Registry
That's a good idea! I will do that.
Thank you
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