Which nation did the first proof coins (and when)?

lsica

Hello Group

Which country minted the first real proof coins? I know Stateside the first ones came around 1817, so Im guessing whoever did that was aprenticed over in England, but were they the first?

Thanks

ormandh

i am going to venture Austria, considering I have not googled or checked it out, but Austria was the center for coinage early on. -Dan

JCMhouston

The UK has some patterns generally regarded as proofs from the 1670 ish period. The first UK proof of a current piece of coinage was around 1717 I think. There may be some earlier but those are the ones I know of in the areas I collect.

spoon

I believe it was the Commonwealth half crown, early 1650s.

edit - ok, yeah, I was thinking of this. Like he says, some earlier types might resemble proof quality, and the later types of Charles II more fully fit the definition. But Breen says the 1651 half is it.

Bjorn

Hmm... I would have thought France.

RobP

If you are going to define a proof as struck on specially prepared and polished flans using specially polished dies, then it has to be machine made due also to the difficulty in making a single sufficiently deep strike with the hammer. The earliest users of the mill presses in Europe will probably be the first producers of proofs. In Britain, there were specially struck trials using French equipment in 1651, but there were also hammered pieces in the reign of James I with the tun mark which are struck on round flans from specially prepared dies. These also exist in the reign of Charles I prior to the Commonwealth pieces and are collectively called Fine-work pieces. These could arguably be considered the forerunner to proofs as we know today. I don't know the answer to the topic, but would hazard a guess at France or Austria and lean towards the latter.