IMIS

Could be. May be this is the reason he is donating proceeds from this sale to advance education of numismatists:)

one-kuna, thanks for the welcome and please accept my apology for the delay in replying to you. I bought that coin and posted my question prior to receiving it. Bought it for the date variety; Proof vs. MS was a curiosity bonus. I am still leaning towards "PF" but do not insist on it. As the saying goes art (proof) in the eyes of a beholder.

Proof, like Frodo's ring can only be unmade by the fires of Mount Doom. ....To completely remove proof surfaces you need to send the coin with some high grade sand paper, or circulate it to about 'fine' grade level. Both scenarios are rather unlikely if you ask me. In any other case, you can always recognize the type of strike of a particular coin. Sometimes one cannot make a decision just by looking at pictures, you need the actual coin to ascertain.

Thank You Candidate!

Thank you for your opinions as I value them highly. Got to examine the coin in person. You do need good light to 'dig' through layers of dirt and haze to get to the surfaces. I would say it was struck as proof and was mishandled in a manner that is similar to the other Russian proof in the EPN sale, which managed to get a PF grade from NGC due to pretty well preserved reverse. Since EPN kept these coins in pre-WWII envelopes, I would agree the coin is likely to have originated from the 1936 EHR Green sale. Therefore, proper grade should say, 'Proof: impaired by a celebrity.' To put the last nail into the coffin, have you gentlemen handled this variety? Was it business, or proof? I am only familiar with the proof from the Goldberg auction over a decade ago.

Who is the handsome dude on the coin?

Any votes for "proof"? After all, EPN in all probability had more years of experience (and perhaps weight) in numismatics than the combined graders who looked at the coin. Seems doubtful that he made such an obvious mistake...

Hello, everyone! I am new to this forum. Saw an interesting discussion I would like to join. Rain386 mentioned an 1827 25 kop coin from the EPN collection. NGC graded this coin MS62, while EPN had it as proof. What do the esteemed members of this forum think with regards to the type of strike of this coin?