Q. David Bowers
Before 1860 all Proof coins of the Philadelphia Mint (with the exception of the Gobrecht dollars of the 1830s) were struck as medals, not as coins, in a legal sense. Mintage figures were not recorded, as Proofs were not considered to be part of the regular coinage production. This system continued in effect for bronze and nickel-alloy coins until 1878. As Proof coins were not delivered in the regular way, there is no record of how many were coined. The normal procedure was for the chief coiner to strike Proof coins and then replace the bullion used.
The number of Proof dollars struck in 1858 has long been a contentious question. In the 1870s a coin dealer, said to have been one of the Chapman brothers, made inquiries at the Mint and was told that about 80 had been struck. To this can be added S.K. Harzfeld's comment (in an 1880 auction catalogue; see quotation under 1858 dollar listing below) that no more than 75 were made. However, these were simply guesses, for later requests to the Mint for the same information were met with a standard reply that no records existed and the question could not be answered.
It is known that two pairs of dies were prepared for the 1858 dollar coinage and specimens exist with one or the other reverse, but only the one obverse variety is known. It is the opinion of this writer, given the number of known specimens (about 80 to 100 pieces?) that the true mintage in 1858 was more on the order of 300, plus or minus a few dozen coins. (The opinions of certain other numismatists vary. See listing under 1858.) Some might have been coined in 1859 or 1860 to meet a delayed demand, but it is unlikely that more than a handful, if any, were struck after December 1858.
More is known of the 1859 Proof coinage. For this year the director encouraged the purchase of sets of coins rather than individual pieces, although the collector could still decide which ones he wished to own. Moreover, all of the coins were now made earlier in the year. In general there were two kinds of sets that the collector might purchase: silver (including the cent) and gold. The silver set, for example, cost $2.02 because of the extra 8 cents charged for the dollar.
Some 800 silver sets were struck in 1859, according to a letter preserved in the Mint archives and written at the beginning of 1860. That 800 sets were made does not mean, however, that exactly 800 specimens were produced of each denomination in the silver set. It is quite likely, for example, that more than 800 Proof cents were made as this denomination has always had a stronger collector base than, for example, quarter dollars.
Similar remarks hold true for the silver dollar as it was usually more popular than the minor silver coins. Thus, there might have been 850 dollars made and only 800 half dollars for the Proof mintage of 1859. It should be noted that the 800 figure is still unofficial as the Proof coinage was still being made without reporting.
Proof dollars of 1859, despite the reported figure of 800, are not as common as the mintage would indicate. Because these coins would not have gone into circulation to any extent, this appears to mean that quite a few were melted as unsold, probably early in 1860. On the other hand, some 1,330 Proof dollars were coined in 1860 (against 1,000 pieces for the other silver denominations), which on the face of it would say that most of the 800 (or more) Proof dollars of 1859 were indeed sold. (This opinion differs from that given under the 1859 dollar entry later in the text.)