1846 Medium Date Proof

The 1846 Medium Date proof half dollar is an institutional-rarity issue from the Philadelphia Mint's pre-public-sales era, when proof coinage was a bespoke effort for officials and standing collector requests rather than an order-book product. Of the date logotypes used in 1846, only the Medium Date is documented in the proof record; the Tall Date and the 6 over Horizontal 6 blunder die do not appear in any verified proof census, which makes the Medium Date the sole 1846 proof subtype recognized by specialists. John Dannreuther treats the date as a single-die-pair issue with delivery in the single digits and confirmed survival of roughly four to six pieces. The 2,210,000 mintage shown on this page is the combined circulation-strike production across all 1846 logotypes, not the proof issue.

Authentication rests on surface, rim, and date-logotype diagnostics. Genuine examples show deeply mirrored, watery fields with die-polish lines visible under a 10x loupe, squared rims raised perpendicular to the field, and sharply formed denticles rather than the rolled denticles of business strikes. Subtype confirmation lives in the numerals: the Medium Date carries shorter digits than the Tall Date, with the 4 showing right-side and bottom serifs nearly touching and the 6 at a tighter loop gap. Specifications must hold at 13.36 grams, 30.6 millimeters, .900 silver. The Sheldon rarity scale rates this issue R-7 (4 to 12 known), with the cameo subset at the threshold of R-8 (1 to 3 known). Any candidate outside the published roster needs PCGS or NGC encapsulation and provenance to a 19th-century cabinet, since prooflike Medium Date business strikes can mimic the reflective look without the structural rim signatures.

For collectors, the 1846 Medium Date proof is a research entry rather than an acquisition target. Public appearances are separated by years, and surfacing examples command six-figure results in line with the institutional-rarity tier of pre-1858 Philadelphia proof silver. Specialists treat the 1846 alongside the 1840, 1841, 1843, and 1844 proofs as the hardest stretch of the 1839 through 1891 run to complete. The Regular classification on this page reflects catalog convention for proof entries; the rarity story is carried by the prose, not the badge. For context on the pre-1858 proof program, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history.