2014-S Calvin Coolidge Proof

San Francisco struck 1,373,569 proof Calvin Coolidge dollars in 2014, the second design in the four-coin 2014 Presidential Dollar Proof Set released alongside the April 10 launch of the circulation Coolidge in Plymouth Notch, Vermont. The figure continues the steady year-over-year decline in collector demand for the multi-design proof set: 1,706,916 in 2011, 1,438,858 in 2012, and 1,373,569 in 2014 marks another step down. Don Everhart designed and sculpted both the obverse portrait of the 30th president, identical to the April 2014 circulation issue, and the Statue of Liberty reverse used across every Presidential Dollar proof from 2007 through 2016. Coolidge took office at 2:47 a.m. on August 3, 1923 in Plymouth Notch after Warren Harding died in San Francisco, sworn in by his father, a notary public, by kerosene-lamp light.

The 2014-S has the deeply mirrored fields and frosted devices typical of late-program San Francisco proof production: a strong cameo contrast (Cameo, the visible difference between mirrored fields and frosted devices) between the brilliant background and the satin texture on Coolidge's portrait, the Statue of Liberty, and the lettering. Strike is sharp on the central obverse, where the high-relief portrait would soften first on a tired die. The S mintmark sits on the edge alongside the date and the legends E PLURIBUS UNUM and IN GOD WE TRUST, applied in a third strike after the proof dies impress the faces.

The 2014-S Coolidge proof is essentially never sold as a single. The standard acquisition path is the original four-coin 2014 Presidential Dollar Proof Set, the four-design entry in the year's Silver Proof Set, or the comprehensive 2014 United States Mint Proof Set. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company, both populate Proof 69 Deep Cameo and Proof 70 Deep Cameo heavily for the design, and certified Proof 70 Deep Cameo examples trade at small premiums above raw set prices. For broader program context, see the Presidential Dollar series history.