1861 Proof

The 1861 Seated Liberty Dollar Proof is struck at the Philadelphia Mint with a documented mintage of 1,000 pieces per the Mint Director annual report. The 1,000-piece figure reflects sustained collector subscription demand at the start of the Civil War, with Seated Dollar proof production continuing through wartime disruption. The 1861 Proof carries the standard Christian Gobrecht obverse and the No Motto reverse that defines the early series through 1865. The live page mintage of 78,500 reflects the circulation-strike figure rather than the proof mintage.

Authentication of an 1861 Seated Dollar Proof requires careful examination of strike quality, mirrored field character, and surface preservation under five to ten power magnification. The 1861 Proof shows fully struck Liberty drapery, sharp eagle feather definition, and deep mirror fields that distinguish formal proof production from business-strike prooflike examples. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC apply standard proof grading conventions across the Seated Dollar proof sequence. Cameo and Deep Cameo designations are uncommon for 1861 Proof examples.

The 1861 Seated Dollar Proof is a regular-classification proof entry on this site under the standard catalog convention for Seated Dollar proofs, with the 1,000-piece mintage and standard proof status reflected in the prose rather than the badge tier. The 1861 Proof pairs with the 1859, 1860, and 1862 through 1865 No Motto P-mint proof sequence as the matched documented-mintage proof era. Auction records for confirmed 1861 Proof examples cluster in four-figure prices for Proof-63 and Proof-64 grades, with Cameo premiums applying at higher grade levels. The pedigree research network for early Seated Dollar proofs continues to track every known specimen of the small proof issues through major auction records and certified-population data, with new appearances of unpedigreed examples requiring careful institutional review before any meaningful price level can be supported. For the Civil War-era Seated Dollar proof production context, see the Seated Liberty Dollar series history.