2016-S Ronald Reagan Proof

San Francisco struck 1,196,592 Ronald Reagan proof dollars in 2016, the figure shared across all three 2016-S proof designs and the lowest single-year proof total of the entire Presidential Dollar program. The 2016-S figure continues the year-over-year decline in proof-set sales since 2009 and bottomed the proof program just below 1.2 million coins. Reagan was the third and final design of the 2016 proof set, packaged into the 2016 Presidential Dollar Proof Set, the 2016 Silver Proof Set, and the full annual proof products. Phebe Hemphill engraved the obverse portrait, paired with Don Everhart's Statue of Liberty reverse used across the entire series.

Strike quality on the 2016-S Reagan proof is excellent throughout the print run; deep-mirror fields contrast cleanly with frosted devices, and Cameo, the strong contrast between mirrored fields and frosted devices, is the floor expectation rather than a premium tier. Look for Deep Cameo (DCAM) heavy frost on the Reagan portrait, the lettering, and the Statue of Liberty reverse devices. Population reports at PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC show the typical 2016-S proof grading PR69 DCAM straight off, with PR70 DCAM the realistic ceiling. Watch for handling marks on the obverse field above the portrait and on the broad cheek, the most common reasons a proof drops from PR70 to PR69 in this manganese-brass alloy.

The 2016-S Reagan proof carries a Regular badge in the site catalog; rarity language for proofs lives in the prose rather than in the badge, per program convention. The proof's collecting interest comes from two anchors at once: the program-low 1.2 million proof figure and Reagan's status as the strongest-selling design of the NIFC stretch. Reagan would have been the final design of the original program; Jimmy Carter, the next president in succession, was alive and disqualified by the two-year-deceased rule, so 2016 closed the proof program until the 2020 George H.W. Bush issue after Bush died in December 2018. Standard acquisition paths are the original 2016 Proof Set, the 2016 Silver Proof Set, or a slabbed PR69 DCAM example. For program-wide context on the proof program and the NIFC cutover, see the Presidential Dollar series history.