Proof Liberty Double Eagles


The Philadelphia Mint struck Proof Liberty Double Eagles (Buy on eBay) throughout the course of the series. The first regular proof production took place in 1858, although earlier issues are known or rumored to have been struck in proof format.

Although technically a pattern, the famous 1849 Double Eagle was struck with a proof finish. From the unknown original mintage, all but two pieces were melted. The only known survivor is currently held by the Smithsonian Institution. This historic issue was followed by an extremely limited number of proofs struck in 1850. The only known survivor for this date is held within a museum collection in France.

The 1858 Proof Double Eagle had an unknown mintage from which only three examples have survived. The 1859 Proof Double Eagle had a reported mintage of 80 pieces, although a large portion of the mintage was never released and subsequently melted. For this date, there are only seven to eight known surviving examples.

The proof issues for the remainder of the series had mintages ranging from 20 pieces for certain dates in the 1870’s to a high of 158 pieces for 1903. Surviving proof examples of any date remain in constant demand for their beauty and rarity. Three proof-only issues of 1883, 1884, and 1887 command higher premiums due to the lack of circulation strikes.

Proof Liberty Double Eagle Mintages

1858 3 to 4 known
1859 80
1860 59
1861 66
1862 35
1863 30
1864 50
1865 25
1866 30
1867 50
1868 25
1869 25
1870 35
1871 30
1872 30
1873 25
1874 20
1875 20
1876 45
1877 20
1878 20
1879 30
1880 36
1881 61
1882 59
1883 Proof Only 92
1884 Proof only 71
1885 77
1886 106
1887 Proof only 121
1888 105
1889 41
1890 55
1891 52
1892 93
1893 59
1894 50
1895 51
1896 128
1897 86
1898 75
1899 84
1900 124
1901 96
1902 114
1903 158
1904 98
1905 92
1906 94
1907 78