1867 Proof

The 1867 proof half dollar is the second year of the Type 5 With Motto subtype, the first full annual delivery in the settled silver proof set program after IN GOD WE TRUST was added to the reverse in 1866. Philadelphia delivered roughly 625 proofs alongside a 449,300-piece business strike run, and the 449,925 figure shown on this page is the combined business plus proof total carried over from the circulation record; it has no bearing on the proof entry, a separately accounted medal-press run from polished dies. Sheldon rarity sits in the R-4 band (roughly 76 to 200 known across all grades, the standard scale specialists use to describe survival), with at least a third of the original delivery believed to survive. The year falls in the second year of Reconstruction, with greenbacks still circulating in place of hard silver and most proof sets bought by the same nucleus of East Coast collectors and Mint correspondents who had subscribed to the formalized program since 1858.

Authentication rests on structural diagnostics rather than mirror depth alone. A genuine 1867 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 the earliest die states, with the new motto ribbon above the eagle fully struck and the letters of TRUST sharp on both sides of the central fold. Rims must be fully squared and raised perpendicular to the field, the signature of multiple medal-press blows rather than a single business-strike impression. Denticles (the tooth-like beads ringing the rim) should be sharp and fully formed, with pinpoint star centrils and razor-crisp hair and drapery detail. Weight is load-bearing at 12.44 grams on a .900 fine silver planchet, diameter 30.6 millimeters, with a reeded edge; anything off-weight or off-diameter is disqualified outright. The recurring risk on this date is the prooflike business strike pulled from polished circulation dies during the 449,300-piece commercial run, which can mimic the reflective look without the squared rims and perpendicular denticles of a true proof. PCGS or NGC encapsulation (the two dominant third-party graders) is the working standard for any candidate offered outside a known specialist holding.

For collectors, the 1867 is one of the more accessible Philadelphia With Motto proofs of the late 1860s, priced behind the 1866 first-year-of-motto date but above several 1870s entries in the same set. The Regular classification on this page follows site convention for proof entries; rarity and historical weight are carried by the prose, not the badge. Cameo and deep cameo subsets price well over standard mirrors, and specialists building the 1858 through 1891 Philadelphia proof run treat it as a routine but not throwaway acquisition. Type collectors often pursue an 1867 proof as a second-year With Motto representative when the 1866 prices out of reach. For broader context on the motto transition and the No Motto and With Motto design history, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history.