1871 Proof

The 1871 proof Shield nickel shipped to subscribers during the same autumn Chicago burned. The fire began on the night of October 8 after two days of drought and high winds, and over the next 36 hours it destroyed roughly 3.3 square miles of the city, killed 300 people, and left 100,000 homeless. The Mint had already struck most of its 1871 proofs by that point, and subscribers receiving their sets in the weeks after the fire would have done so while the Chicago relief fund was gathering donations from every major American city. Proof mintage for the year was approximately 960 coins, holding near the 1870 level.

While the circulation strike 1871 is a semi-key with a microscopic 561,000 mintage, the proof is significantly more available and serves as the practical way for many collectors to acquire an 1871 Shield nickel in presentable condition. The proof's mirror fields and sharp strike contrast sharply with the typical 1871 business strike, where the chronic Shield nickel die problems produced weak central detail and frequent die cracks on surviving examples.

Surviving populations are adequate for collector demand, with PR63 through PR66 examples available through major auction houses on a regular basis. Cameo and Deep Cameo designations command meaningful premiums, and well-preserved examples with original surfaces are preferred over cleaned or toned pieces. For collectors building Shield nickel sets that combine circulation and proof representations of each year, the 1871 proof substitutes for the harder-to-find circulation strike at lower cost in higher grade levels. The two coins serve different roles in a comprehensive collection: the business strike documents the mintage cliff of 1871 at its low ebb, while the proof preserves Longacre's design at its sharpest achievable state.