2009-S John Tyler Proof

San Francisco struck 2,809,452 proof John Tyler dollars in 2009, the second design in that year's four-coin proof set after James Polk and ahead of William Henry Harrison and Zachary Taylor. Buyers received the Tyler proof packaged either in the standalone four-coin Presidential Dollar Proof Set or as part of the larger annual United States Mint Proof Set. The 2009 proof figure marks a meaningful drop from the 3.08-million Andrew Jackson proof of 2008, part of a steady year-over-year softening in proof-set sales across the Mint's full lineup that paralleled the late-recession environment. Don Everhart designed both faces, including the obverse portrait of Tyler with the inscription JOHN TYLER, 10TH PRESIDENT, 1841-1845, and the Statue of Liberty reverse common to every business-strike and proof Presidential Dollar through 2016.

San Francisco proof Presidential Dollars are struck twice on polished planchets with frosted dies, producing the contrast between mirrored fields and frosted devices known as Cameo. The standard expectation on a 2009-S Tyler is Deep Cameo, the strongest grade of contrast, abbreviated DCAM by PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and Ultra Cameo, abbreviated UCAM by NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company. Coins falling short of those designations are uncommon enough that they trade at a small discount rather than a premium. The grade ceiling sits at PR70 DCAM, where small flaws in the obverse field around Tyler's portrait, struck in higher relief than the reverse, are typically what separates a 70 from a 69. Buyers paying PR70 prices should look closely at the open field to the right of Tyler's coat collar.

Collector use of this coin is straightforward. It fits into a complete forty-coin Presidential Dollar proof run, into a 2009-only four-coin proof set, or into a single-design Tyler three-coin set with the Philadelphia and Denver business strikes. Raw proofs from broken-up Mint sets are inexpensive, and PR69 DCAM slabs trade for modest premiums; PR70 DCAM coins carry a meaningful step up but remain accessible compared with classic-era proof prices. For program-wide context including the 2012 transition to collector-only distribution, see the Presidential Dollar series history.