USA Coin Album: Two Coins for the Price of One

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The collecting of United States coins was an activity pursued by just a few dozen persons until the 1850s, when the hobby began to gain a greater following. For the most part this was a positive development that led to the formation of numismatic societies and the publication of useful books and periodicals. There was a downside, however, as the increasing demand for proofs and patterns led to a quarter century in which the US Mint became a purveyor of both authorized and clandestine rarities.

Proof coins of the current year’s issues had been sold by the Philadelphia Mint on a somewhat sporadic basis since the 1840s, and even some earlier issues could still be had. This service was not publicized at the time and it seems that only a handful of persons living in or near Philadelphia availed themselves of this opportunity. Proofs became more generally known by the mid 1850s, and the Mint finally published its terms of sale starting in 1858. After that time, all denominations were coined as proofs annually through 1915, but there soon arose a demand for pieces from earlier years that had become rare. The ever-rising prices that such coins were bringing at auction ultimately prompted some at the Philadelphia Mint to supply newly-struck examples of both known rarities and issues that had never been coined as proofs.

Among the hot-ticket items restruck in proof finish starting around 1858 were the extremely popular Eagle cents, both the quarter dollar-sized patterns dated 1854-55 and the 1856 small cents of the then-current design. Also highly sought were the Gobrecht silver dollars of 1836-39. These were restruck in imitation of the originals using existing or newly-made dies, but entirely different varieties resulted from the mixing of various dies not previously used together. Mint Director James R. Snowden (1853-61) was agreeable to these practices, as he sought to augment the Mint’s own collection of George Washington medals and tokens. He used the Mint’s restruck rarities as trading bait to secure desired specimens of Washingtonia from established collectors.

Silver dollars of the regular Seated Liberty type were also sought in proof by many collectors, but the pre-1854 pieces were extremely rare, and proofs had not been coined for each year in the series. Among the dates unknown in proof finish was 1851 and even the currency strikes of that year were already quite scarce by the late 1850s. The 1851 silver dollar was thus a natural subject for restriking, and an unknown quantity of proofs was coined around 1858-60 from a different die pair than that used for the 1,300 originals. The restrikes are easily distinguished by having their date correctly centered between the Liberty figure and the border, whereas on the originals the date is too high. This first emission of restrikes was most likely approved by Director Snowden, but that’s not known for certain. It appears that additional proofs were struck from a different pair of dies that are only slightly distinguishable from the others. These coins probably date to the 1867-77 period, when Mint Director Henry R. Linderman was a prolific sponsor of restrikes and fantasy pieces both for his own collection and for trading purposes. This practice was tolerated until the 1880s, when complaints from excluded collectors led to a ban that was reasonably well enforced.

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In their haste to coin proofs of the 1851 silver dollar, Mint workers created at least two very distinctive specimens. In the early 1980s, ANACS (which was then still owned by the ANA) received for authentication and grading an 1851 proof dollar that revealed a faint “O” mintmark. It was ultimately determined that an existing silver dollar had been used as a planchet for this particular specimen, and the mintmark had been nearly flattened by the restrike dies. The date is not readable, but it was most likely 1859-O or 1860-O, coins that would have been available during the known periods of restriking. A later examination revealed that the piece’s original edge reeding had been filed down so that it would fit within the collar of the coin press, making the dollar somewhat underweight. How many times this fascinating coin had traded hands before its secret was revealed is not known.

In 2004 another overstruck proof 1851 silver dollar surfaced. In this instance the underlying coin that had been used as a planchet bore a still-readable date of 1846. Dollars were coined for circulation that year at both the Philadelphia and New Orleans Mints, but no trace of an “O” mintmark is visible, so it likely didn’t carry one before its restriking. Collectors were advised to begin examining their 1851 proof silver dollars, of which fewer than 100 are believed to exist, for traces of underlying dates or mintmarks.

While advanced collectors of the 19th Century were aware that the Philadelphia Mint had been coining restrikes, few persons examined their coins closely enough to distinguish between these and the originals. It’s thus not surprising that these two remarkable specimens went undetected until recent years.

David W. Lange's column, “USA Coin Album,” appears monthly in The Numismatist, the official publication of the American Numismatic Association.