1862 Proof

The 1862 proof half dollar is a wartime issue from the Philadelphia Mint, struck during the second full year of the Civil War as the public proof program ran well below its late-1850s capacity. John Dannreuther's research places the 1862 delivery at roughly 550 pieces, a sharp pullback from the ~800 figure of 1859 and the ~1,000 of 1860, driven by disrupted Eastern commerce, specie hoarding, and depressed collector demand as silver coin withdrew from Northern circulation that summer. Modern PCGS and NGC census data place survivors in the Sheldon R-4 (76 to 200 known) to R-5 (31 to 75 known) range, with cameo subsets substantially scarcer. The 253,550 figure shown on this page is the 1862 Philadelphia business-strike delivery, not the proof, and has no bearing on this entry; the proof was struck from separately prepared dies and planchets on a medal press in a small, identifiable run.

Authentication rests on structural diagnostics that distinguish a true proof from the prooflike business strikes the 253,550-piece circulation run produced in modest quantity. A genuine 1862 proof reads as deeply mirrored, watery fields with controlled die-polish lines visible under a 10x loupe (a jeweler's magnifier), set against frosted devices on early die states. Rims must be fully squared and raised perpendicular to the field rather than rolled, the signature of multiple medal-press blows rather than a single circulation strike. Denticles (the tooth-like beads ringing the rim) should be sharp and fully formed on both sides, with pinpoint star centrils and razor-crisp hair and feather detail. Weight is load-bearing because 1862 falls under the post-Coinage-Act-of-1853 reduced standard of 12.44 grams; any candidate near the older pre-Arrows 13.36-gram figure is immediately disqualified. Specifications must also hold at 30.6 millimeters, .900 fine silver, with a reeded edge. The 1862 belongs to the With Drapery, No Motto subtype, using the matured Christian Gobrecht obverse and the unmotto eagle reverse that anchored the design until the 1866 IN GOD WE TRUST addition.

For collectors, the 1862 sits in the wartime cohort of the Philadelphia proof half series, paired with 1861, 1863, and 1864 as the four dates struck under the deepest Civil War contraction. The ~550-piece delivery makes it scarcer than the 1858 through 1860 program-launch issues and meaningfully scarcer than the post-1865 recovery years, and realized prices climb sharply with cameo contrast and grade. PCGS or NGC encapsulation is functionally required for the coin to trade at proof prices. The Regular classification follows site convention for proof entries; rarity and wartime context are carried by the prose, not the badge. Specialists building the 1858 through 1891 Philadelphia proof run treat the 1861 through 1864 block as the tightest middle section of the series, where appearance frequency drops and competition for cameo examples sharpens. For background on the public proof program, the wartime contraction, and the design history through the Civil War years, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history.