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What is the mintage for the 1858 proof half dollar?
Rampage
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I've seen varying totals from as little as 100 to as many as 375+. Can someone help? And what is a reasonable price to pay for a proof 63 pcgs? Thanks..
Richard.
Richard.
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<< <i>I've seen varying totals from as little as 100 to as many as 375+. Can someone help? And what is a reasonable price to pay for a proof 63 pcgs? Thanks..
Richard. >>
Mintage figures for 1858 proof coins are guesswork as official records were not kept.
I would reference Heritage archives for values. The Kaufman collection
had many early pre 1860 proofs. That catalogue would be useful for value.
Breen appears to be wrong as more than 160 have been authenticated by PCGS and NGC.
Although PCGS does say 80-100 known examples.
bob
half dollars not 1858 dollars. Can Rampage clarify?
<< <i>Kevin Flynn's new book, "The Authoritative Reference on Liberty Seated Dollars" says 300 were produced.
Breen appears to be wrong as more than 160 have been authenticated by PCGS and NGC.
Although PCGS does say 80-100 known examples.
bob
Flynn’s figure is taken from the Redbook.
<< <i>Breen appears to be wrong as more than 160 have been authenticated by PCGS and NGC.
bob
Don't know where Breen came up with his number, but the slabbed count proves nothing to the contrary. In fact, it would be reasonable to assume that the slabbed count was overstated by 2x, making Breen's count in the ballpark.
1858 73 (80-100)
1859 164 (800)
1860 173 (1000)
1861 130 (1000)
Based on those numbers I'd expect anywhere from 420-560 pieces as the total 1858 mintage. No doubt there's some slop and error in this estimate as probably a higher % of 1858's have been submitted for grading.
The real number might only be half of that amount or 200-300 pieces. It surely isn't 80-100. I've always figured that maybe 35-65% of all these early proofs have been submitted for grading. Don't forget the NGC pieces
in this exercise as that will double these numbers. Even if you assume a 2X duplication due to resubmissions since 1986, you still have the PCGS numbers to estimate all the distinctly different coins. Said another way, if the
80-100 is accurate, then I'd guess the 1861 mintage is probably wrong....and at at most 175 pieces (not 1000). There's the also the issue of the mint not selling out the mintages and melting coins. I figure the most logical
explanation is that maybe 2X as many 1858's were minted....and it has a 2X higher survival rate than the 1859-1861 years. That could account for a 4X difference in mintage. Bottom line: mintages are irrelevant for the most
part as it's the number of surviving specimens that make up the supply vs. demand curve. Fwiw, I think the mintages for the 1856-1858 seated proofs are all underestimated.
<< <i>What's a 'montage'? >>
You asked...
Montage
Here is a picture of the finest known 1858 Proof Half. It is the only graded PCGS PR67 and for the longest time was the finest by two points. PCGS now has a PR 66 in the pop report. The coin has full mirrors and a light cameo contrast. There are literally only a handful of this date that I have found that one would likely call attractive. It is an extremely tough date to find without a dull look an unattractive toning.
I bought this particular coin out of auction many years ago and originally submitted it at a show to PCGS where it came back as PR 66. I immediately sent it back for a presidential review (or whatever it was called then) with a note to please point out just one hairline or post-mint mark on the coin, or please provide some other explanation for the low grade. It came back PCGS PR67.