1928 Crown

[Red Riley]

I have a 1928 crown in GEF condition. The obverse is pretty much as one might expect from such a coin and is definitely not 'proof', but the reverse shows signs of having been shotblasted to produce a matt finish. I can see no reason why this would have been done anywhere else than at the mint, but it is the only time I have come across it in circulating coin of the realm (1902 excepted). Does anyone have any further information on this. Was it regular practice to treat a small number of coins in this way for photographic purposes?

As you might imagine, this is not the easiest thing to reproduce on a scan, but I have had a go with the resolution turned right up and you may just be able to see what I mean.

[Guest E. Dawson]

Yes, looks to be a currency strike - the edges and details are not sharp enough for any sort of proof; certainly it might be possible for a die to age/rust & be cleaned but this is not matte. Remember that matte proofs have the die abraded but the planchet is NOT.

BTW, the subject of mattes has been rather sore of late as coins may have matte surfaces either originally or added but actual matte proofs are very rare and essentially not encountered. They must still possess the characteristics of proofs even though slightly differently prepared.