2023-S Louisiana, Reverse Proof Proof

The 2023-S Louisiana Reverse Proof is the inverted-finish San Francisco strike of the Higgins Boat design, with frosted, brilliant fields and mirrored, polished devices, the opposite contrast pattern of the standard proof. On this finish the LCVP (Landing Craft, Vehicle, Personnel) and its deployed bow ramp read as polished metal against satin-frost background, an aesthetic that suits the design's stark military silhouette. Reverse inscriptions read THE HIGGINS BOAT, LOUISIANA, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Reverse design credit goes to U.S. Mint Artistic Infusion Program artist Dennis Friel and sculpting to Medallic Artist John P. McGraw, honoring Andrew Higgins's New Orleans firm that built roughly 23,000 LCVPs for WWII amphibious operations. The 32,000-piece reverse-proof mintage is the lowest of the four 2023 Louisiana finishes and one of the lowest reverse-proof totals across the entire Innovation Dollar program to that point, distinct from the typical low-50s figure.

Reverse-proof manganese brass is less forgiving in handling than the standard proof. The mirrored devices show fingerprints and slide marks immediately, and the satin field, while less susceptible to obvious hairlines, holds faint streaks from imperfect rinsing during pre-strike die preparation. The diagnostic to check is the bow-ramp tread surface and the parallel rivet lines down the hull; on a strong example the polished rivet lines catch light cleanly as discrete dots, while a weakly struck coin shows them as soft, slightly ghosted impressions. Population reports at PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC tilt heavily toward PR69 and PR70, and both services describe these as "Reverse Proof" without a separate cameo grade since the contrast direction is built into the format.

Classification is regular under site convention; reverse proofs are not assigned key-date or variety badges, and the scarcity story belongs in the prose. The 32,000-piece total is the operative number here: it puts the 2023-S Reverse Proof among the smallest Innovation reverse-proof issues, and secondary-market pricing has reflected that since release. Realistic acquisition is the original Mint capsule for the mid-twenties to low thirties and a graded PR70 for a modest step up, with the WWII-history collector overlay on the Higgins Boat subject pulling demand from outside the usual modern dollar crowd. For the program's full structure and finish rotation, see the American Innovation Dollar series history.