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1865 Proof Quarter Eagle
 

Reported mintage: 25

Estimated number of pieces known: 13-15 (52-60% of original mintage)

Characteristics: Obverse has date placed very high in the field, numeral 1 closest to truncation of the next but none are actually touching. Placement of date in field is relatively to the right, although the difference is minimal to other years. Reverse uses the same die as the previous year, with no individual diagnostics discerned. It would also be struck during the next couple of years, especially saved for the purpose of striking the limited number of Proofs on a single day of the year. Those of 1865 were delivered on March 8 of that year. During the minting process, the dies were inserted wrong on at least once occasion, as the Smithsonian example of this rare date has the dies aligned medal-turn. It seems every other example has the dies in the regular coin-turn alignment.

Comments: The final year of the American Civil War saw another tiny number of Proof quarter eagles struck at the Philadelphia Mint. Struck a month before the end of America’s major war of the 19th century, this is a date that is much in demand. Not only does the miniscule mintage of 25 Proofs contribute to this, the business strike mintage was extremely small as well, with only 1,520 quarter eagles struck for circulation. As such, with circulation strikes and Proofs combined, this is one of the rarest Liberty Quarter eagles, only rivaled by Proof-only issues as the 1841 and 1863, and some low-mintage dates. Over the years, this has increased the popularity of this date. However, there have been virtually no new examples on the market for the last couple of decades. As such, the estimated number of examples known has never exceeded the low number of fifteen coins.

Walter Breen, in 1977, believed that at least twelve examples were known to exist, and which he claimed to have seen. These included both the examples in the Smithsonian institution and the American Numismatic Society, permanently impounded in those collections and thus unavailable to collectors. At least four were known to him as impaired, cleaned, damaged or with wear from circulation. The remaining pieces have been included in major collections as Eliasberg, Norweb and Bass, where they were always considered to be prime rarities. Auction appearances are very rare, and when an 1865 quarter eagle, in any format of grade crosses the auction block, it will be considered a very important moment for the specialist.

The Proofs of this year have been much underappreciated because of the rarity of the business strikes, of which perhaps the total number of unique examples known to exist is lower than the Proofs. The Proofs that are known to exist are usually of lower quality than average, with gems being of the finest rarity. Cameo contrast is seen on virtually every example that is known to exist, although it comes with varying strength and deepness. This can be blamed on the preparation of the dies and planchets at the Mint in 1865, as not every die and planchet received utmost care before the coin was struck. Some Proofs are known to have circulated, and are found with varying degree of wear. These are discerned from the business strikes from the position of the curl in Liberty’s hair on the obverse. On the Proofs, the lowest curl will be positioned almost completely above the 5 in the date. On business strikes, it is placed more to the left, with part of the curl above the 6.



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1865 Proof Quarter Eagle - Information about 1865 Proof Quarter Eagle
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