1875 Proof

The 1875 proof half dollar is the first post-Arrows proof of the standard Type 4 With Motto subtype, the year Philadelphia dropped the arrowheads flanking the date because the 12.50-gram weight set by the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 had now been carried on every working die for two full years and no longer needed a public design marker. Dannreuther's *United States Proof Coins, Volume IV: Silver* records approximately 700 pieces struck by the proof department, a figure cross-confirmed by Wiley-Bugert and the PCGS and NGC census references. The 6,027,500 figure shown on this page is the Philadelphia business-strike delivery for 1875 (the highest Philadelphia half dollar output in over a decade, reflecting the resumption of normal commercial coinage) and has no bearing on the proof issue, which was a separately accounted medal-press run from polished dies and tracked apart from the circulation account.

Authentication rests on three checks confirmed together. First, the date attribution: the field on either side of 1875 must be plain, with no arrowhead motifs intruding toward the 1 or the 5, because any 1875 half showing arrows is either a die-tooled fake or a misattribution. Second, the proof striking signature: 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, with fully squared rims raised perpendicular to the field and pinpoint denticles (the tooth-like beads ringing the rim) on both sides. Hair detail above Liberty's ear, the IN GOD WE TRUST ribbon across the shield, and the eagle's neck feathers should read razor-sharp from the multiple medal-press blows a proof receives. Third, weight is load-bearing at 12.50 grams on a .900 fine silver planchet, 30.6 millimeters in diameter, with a reeded edge. The recurring risk is the prooflike business strike pulled from polished circulation dies, which can mimic the reflective fields 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 documented specialist holding.

For collectors, the 1875 proof anchors the transition back to the standard With Motto design and is the obvious first entry in a post-Arrows proof type set. Survival sits at Sheldon R-4 (76 to 200 known across all grades), comparable to the surrounding 1876 and 1877 proofs and supported by the small original delivery and steady attrition through impaired and cleaned examples. The Regular classification follows site convention for proof entries; the limited delivery and post-Arrows transitional status are carried by the prose, not the badge. Pricing tracks the surrounding With Motto proofs in mirrored grades but pulls ahead in cameo and deep cameo subsets, where date-specialist demand compresses an already small surviving pool. For broader context on the 1873 Coinage Act and the subtype boundaries it redrew, see the Seated Liberty Half Dollar series history.