Estimated number of pieces known:
13-15 (43-50% of original mintage)
Characteristics: Obverse
has level date, centered between the truncation of Liberty’s
neck and the lower rim. The Trompeter catalog mentions vertical
die lines between B and E in LIBERTY and Breen mentioned
a recut R in AMERICA on the reverse. Both characteristics
are not visible on the majority of examples that survive,
and appear to have been diagnostics of the specific coins.
The latter comment especially seems unlikely, as the same
reverse die was used as the previous two years and recutting
is not evident on those Proofs. No further characteristics
are noted on either side.
Comments: The American
Civil War ended in April of 1865, and immediately the so-called
reconstruction era of the United States commenced. Lasting
for a few years, it did not have an immediate effect on
the mintages of Proof and Business strike gold coins of
the Philadelphia Mint. In 1866, only thirty quarter eagles
were produced in Proof format, an increase of five pieces
over the previous year. These were delivered in two separate
batches, a rare occurrence in that time as the previous
Proof gold coinage was usually all struck and delivered
on a single day in the year. January 15 saw the delivery
of the first twenty-five pieces; five more were delivered
on June 8 for an unknown reason, as it appears that at least
some specimens of this date were melted at the Philadelphia
Mint, or ended up in circulation.
The population of the 1866 Proof quarter
eagle has been estimated in the last few decades between
‘possibly under twelve (Breen) to ‘about two
dozen’ (Garrett-Guth). By studying the very infrequent
appearances of this date on the public market we would say
that the comment made by Breen, in 1977, appears to be the
closest to correctness. Only a handful of pieces of this
date have been auctioned during the last decade, and when
an example does turn up it usually will be among the highlights
of that particular auction. Yet, it is usually not more
expensive than other, similar dates of this era, like 1865
or 1868, both having reported mintages of just twenty-five
Proofs. This makes the 1866 Proof quarter eagle a very underrated
issue, even within the context of this long-lived series.
Distribution of this date, so shortly after
the Civil War, must have been extremely low, and appears
to be the main factor in the rarity of this date. Perhaps
the five pieces that were minted in June were all melted,
or were substitutes for five pieces minted in January that
had been considered to be more unsuitable for sale to collectors.
The huge spread between the two deliveries is very illogical,
and appears rarely within any of the Proof issues of the
American gold denominations. A reported mintage of twenty
pieces would be much more in line with the number of surviving
pieces, but appears to be a figure that will almost certainly
never be confirmed. Without positive information regarding
the actual mintage, we can only say that this extremely
rare date is usually encountered in the lower Proof grades,
with gems being very rare. Full deep cameo contrast on highly
reflective fields is very rare, and could certainly be considered
to be the highlight of any condition, if such a piece were
found.
