1852 Proof Seated Liberty Half Dollar

The 1852 proof half dollar was struck during the year with the lowest Philadelphia circulation mintage (77,130 coins) in the pre-Arrows era. The silver-melting crisis had nearly halted normal commercial production, but proof coinage continued on its own separate schedule, immune to the forces crushing circulation-strike output.

While bullion dealers and speculators were melting half dollars for their silver content, the Mint's proof department prepared a small number of collector specimens from polished dies and planchets. The contrast between the year's dire circulation situation and the calm continuation of proof production illustrates the separate tracks on which commercial and collector coinage operated at mid-century. The 1852 proof is rare and is collected within the annual proof sequence as a standard entry from the crisis years.