Reprinted with permission from A Buyer's and Enthusiast's Guide to Flying Eagle and Indian Cents.

What is a Proof Flying Eagle Cent?

Many if not most Proof Flying Eagle cents lack the deep mirror finish characteristic of, for example, later Indian cents, and were struck from dies that were incompletely polished. This is particularly true of 1856 Flying Eagle cents, for which even the experts disagree. The situation is not made easier by the prolonged use of certain dies which, apparently, were repolished from time to time.

In recent times there has been a growing interest in sorting 1856 Flying Eagle cents by die varieties -- mainly based upon guidelines given by Walter Breen in his encyclopedia on Proof coins (published in 1977, reprinted in 1987) and Richard Snow's Flying Eagle & Indian Cents (1992). Several specialists are currently engaged in research on the same subject.

I anticipate that over the next few years a number of refined theories will be published concerning die combinations, die states, and estimated issue times. A question that has already arisen is this: Should an 1856 Flying Eagle cent with an incomplete Proof surface and having some characteristics of a business strike and some of a Proof, but generally acknowledged as being a restrike made for collectors, be classified as Mint State or as Proof?

While among 1857 and 1858 Proof cents the situation is not as confused as with the 1856, still it seems that the majority of specimens classified as Proofs years ago might equally well be called Mint State.

That the confusion, even among experts, is hardly new is evidenced by the use of "Uncirculated" and "Proof" within the description of the same specimens by B. Max Mehl in his 1941 catalogue of the William Forrester Dunham catalogue (italics ours):

Lot 1412. 1856 flying Eagle cent. Bright Uncirculated with full mint lustre, raised borders, with considerable Proof surface. Very likely purchased as a Proof...

Lot 1709. 1859 Indian head pattern. Reverse, olive wreath. Proof, but not in full brilliancy. Can be classed as Uncirculated with Proof surface...

Collecting Proof Flying Eagle Cents

Most 1856 Flying Eagle cents encountered in higher grades are Proofs and are restrikes made 1858 or later, but from original dies made in 1856 or very early 1857. Little notice has been paid in the marketplace concerning restrikes vs. originals. So far as is known, all Mint State coins (frosty and lustrous, with no prooflike or Proof surface) are originals. The distinction is often unclear, as stated above.

The 1857 Flying Eagle cent is a notable rarity in Proof finish. However, once again the situation is complicated by some prooflike business strikes being certified incorrectly as Proofs. Be careful, and use certification as a starting point. Conventional wisdom in the field of Flying Eagle and Indian cents is changing -- this book will help -- and certification services are learning, too.

In my opinion there are fewer than 20 to 30 authentic Proof 1857 Flying Eagle cents known, and I have seen estimates that there are only 10 to 20 true Proofs. This rarity is explained by the fact that most contemporary numismatists interested in 1857 Proof coins ordered them in early 1857 and received half cents and large copper cents of the old style.¹

The Proof 1857 Flying Eagle cents were not ready until May, by which time most minor (half cent and cent) and silver Proof sets had been distributed with the older-style copper coins. Probably, most 1857 Proof Flying Eagle cents were sold singly later, not with silver sets.

1858 Proof Flying Eagle cents are likewise rare, but as a date they are more often seen than are those dated 1857. Both the Large Letters and Small Letters varieties were made with mirror Proof finish, with the Small Letters being the style usually seen. The 1858 Large Letters Proof is a major rarity, although most price guides and popular references have not recognized this. Some 1858 Proof Flying Eagle cents, especially of the Small Letters style, are believed to have been sold as part of 12-coin sets containing 11 patterns and one regular issue.

As a class, Proof Flying Eagle cents of 1857 and 1858 are sharply struck with "square" vertical edges (when viewed from the side).

In summary, Proof Flying Eagle cents have the following availability, listed from most plentiful to most rare: 1857: The rarest; estimated 20 to 30 known.

1858 Large Letters: Second rarest, in a league with the 1857.

1858 Small Letters: Third rarest, probably 50 to 100 known.

1856: Most plentiful. Many hundreds known.

A sharp price differential between various levels within the Proof category such as Proof-60, Proof-63, etc., did not begin in a widespread way until the late 1980s. In earlier times a particularly choice Proof would sell for more, but not a great amount more, than a heavily toned or spotted example. Usually a Proof was simply offered as a Proof, and what few truly "fussy" collectors that were in the market could, with some searching, buy a beautiful coin for no higher price than an average one.

As unusual as it may seem to the present-day reader, connoisseurship was not emphasized decades ago. While such numismatists as Mrs. R. Henry Norweb, Floyd Starr, Louis E. Eliasberg, James A. Stack, and F.C.C. Boyd - to give just a short list - were indeed particular as to their purchases, most collectors were not. Even these discriminating collectors did not own complete sets of Proof-65 or finer Flying Eagle and Indian cents.

¹ For comparative numbers, Breen (Encyclopedia of Proof Coins, pp. 103-104) cites an odd delivery of $1.33 on January 24, 1857, which "may mean 266 half cents"; and a similar odd delivery of $2.38 on February 7, 1857, which "may mean 238 Proof [large] cents," presumably Newcomb-3. (Note suggested to the author by Harry Salyards, M.D.)