Q. David Bowers
Proof Trade Dollars: A Shared Die
by Jesse Patrick
The following essay was contributed by Jesse Patrick for inclusion in this book:
"An element of chance always plays an important role' in any numismatic discovery. First one needs to have the discovery specimen or new information placed before him or her. Second, the viewer or interpreter of that information needs to have the right background and education in the subject at hand as well as the ability to sense the importance of what is presented .. Third and last of all, an individual needs to be alert enough to notice what is new at hand. This last element usually involves someone asking to find something new and unpublished.
"I know that as a rare coin dealer of 35 years' experience that it is very seldom that I find anything really new. It's not that I don't look, it's just that my search is very rarely rewarded. In this light I would like to share the discovery of a new trade dollar reverse which has an important on the rarity of the 1875 Type 1 Proofs and gives us what I believe are some of the' clearest insights yet into the common Mint practices regarding the maintenance and use of Proof dies generally.
"I made the following significant discovery in November 1987. I was writing descriptions of auction lots for Kagin's in San Francisco, California. As was usual, the pace was some-what hectic with many lots to be catalogued and deadlines in which to get the job done. I was handed as part of my job a complete set of trade dollars to write up for our 346th Sale which was to take place on February 4-6, 1988. This event was called the Abbey Collection and the trade dollars were offered beginning with Lot 4001. The set 1 catalogued of course lacked the 1884 and 1885, but was complete otherwise with many of the coins being brilliant Proofs aside from those other dates which are only known in Proof.
"As I began cataloguing the 1873 I noticed that the coin was not only somewhat hairlined but also had many harsh reverse die striations which could be confused with hairlines, and so 1 noted that in my description. The most distinctive of the reverse lines were two light, very close parallel die striations (separation of the two can be seen at the beginning; later the two appear as one) that begin at the branch stem, continue through the bottom arrow feather, and extend in an arc past the top of the first 0 and through the center of the second 0 of .900, continuing between AR and to the edge below R of DOLLAR. To the uninitiated, the striations look like a tiny scratch.
"That a Proof trade dollar reverse was thus so readily identifiable by these marks was unusual and interesting in itself.
But when I discovered that the 1874 and 1875 Proofs in this set were also struck from this very same reverse die 1 was astounded. The probability of having Proofs of these three different dates all struck from the same reverse die in one set was simply beyond belief.
"The 1875 Proof in the set which shared the same reverse as the 1873 and 1874 was of course the Type I reverse, easily identified by a berry under the eagle's claw to right. Walter Breen did not list any of the die characteristics of the striated reverse described above for any of the three years of trade dollars in his monumental book on Proof coins.
"It is important to note that the three coins examined showed progressively weaker evidence of the striations mentioned over the three yearsof coinage, a situation most likely due to being repeatedly polished. It thus becomes apparent that unless Breen had seen and described a late state of this same die, with the striations removed through polishing, that there are in fact at least two different reverse dies employed in the striking of the 1875 Type 1 Proofs. This use of two dies implies that there may be more of this variety extant than previously believed.
"The story these three coins tell of Mint procedures is quite interesting. It is evident that the Mint had specific dies set aside from which to coin Proofs. These were taken off the shelf each year and repolished after removing the protective grease coating undoubtedly given them to prevent rust from forming. Thus the die in question shows successively weaker impressions of the striations over, the three years of its use. No doubt if put into regular production to coin business strikes the light surface marks described would not have held up for very long.
"The characteristics described I consider diagnostic for the authentication of Proofs in cases where such status is called into question. It is very easy to consider these light surface characteristics as just more hairlines on an already hairlined or impaired coin. That the mint had specific dies it used for Proofs and maintained them explicitly for that purpose is not new information, of course. However, 1 can not recall off hand any clearer illustration of the practice. It would be interesting to know of any more lengthy uses of Proof dies than the three-year period cited above.(DB note: In the Indian cent series a common die was used to coin certain Proofs from 1872 through 1877; pieces from this die are identifiable by having the upper right arm of the T in CENT in the form of a high-relief "blob," quite unlike the flat appearance of the left arm.) Perhaps the element of chance will soon yield to the discovery of an even more lengthy use of Proof dies as well as additional information on Mint practices of the time."
The Year 1873 in History
(See entry under 1873 Liberty Seated dollar)