1855 25C Arrows, CAM (Proof)
Series: Liberty Seated Quarters 1838-1891
PCGS PR65CAM
Image courtesy of Heritage Numismatic Auctions
PCGS PR65+CAM
PCGS PR65CAM
- PCGS #:
- 85551
- Designer:
- Robert Ball Hughes/Christian Gobrecht
- Edge:
- Reeded
- Diameter:
- 24.30 millimeters
- Weight:
- 6.20 grams
- Mintage:
- 20
- Mint:
- Philadelphia
- Metal:
- 90% Silver, 10% Copper
- Auction Record:
- $34,500 • PR65 • 02-01-2009 • Heritage Auctions
Condition Census What Is This?
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#1 PCGS PR65+CAM
As PCGS PR65CAM #13727626. Heritage Auctions, February 5, 2009, Lot 1104 – $34,500. As PCGS PR65+CAM #36545491. Gold toning in the centers. Faint vertical striations. Blue and purple toning along the rim. |
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#2 PCGS PR65CAM
As NGC PF65CAM #1898957-056. “The Phil Kaufman Collection of Early Seated Proof Sets, Part Three,” Heritage Auctions, April 17, 2008, Lot 2396 – $27,600. Offered as the Finest Known; Heritage Auctions, April 25, 2013, Lot 4226 – $21,150. As PCGS PR65CAM #42603469. Gold and orange centers. Electric blue at the lower obverse periphery. Blue along the upper reverse periphery. Blue and red toning at "IC" of "AMERICA." |
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#2 PCGS PR64CAM
As PCGS PR64CAM #50155057. Heritage Auctions, August 14, 2006, Lot 5188 - $21,850. As PCGS PR64CAM #07341681. Heritage Auctions, April 17, 2008, Lot 2283 – $21,850; “The Joseph C. Thomas Collection,” Heritage Auctions, April 30, 2009, Lot 2356 – $14,950. As PCGS PR64CAM #14593710. Heritage Auctions, July 31, 2009, Lot 1087 – $16,100; David Lawrence Rare Coins, March 23, 2014, Lot 831 - $19,000; “The Maltese Collection,” Heritage Auctions, October 15, 2020, Lot 3049 – $28,800. Peach toning throughout. Cobalt along the rim at the upper rim of the obverse, lower rim of the reverse. Curved lint mark in the field to the right of Liberty's knee. Second curved lintmark below. |
| #2 PCGS PR64CAM |
The 1855 Liberty Seated Quarter Proof
From 1853 to 1855, the United States Mint placed arrows on either side of the date to signal a weight reduction from 6.68 grams of .900 fine silver to 6.22 grams. While the coin retained its standard diameter, the new weight made it imperceptibly thinner.
Following a record-setting mintage of 15,210,020 quarters in 1853—a figure not surpassed until 1876—production dipped slightly in 1854 before plummeting by more than 80% in 1855. Despite this sharp decline, business-strike 1855 Liberty Seated Quarters (#5435) remain relatively available, trading at price levels comparable to 1854 issues. Conversely, the 1853 Liberty Seated Quarter with Arrows and Rays (#5426) remains a prized one-year type, driving significant premiums due to intense demand from type collectors.
The Rarity of "Master Coins" (Proofs)
Unlike business strikes, Master Coins (today known simply as "Proofs") were not issued in quantity. Based on survival rates, mintages likely remained in the low-to-high single digits throughout the 1840s before seeing a slight uptick in 1854 and 1855, followed by a massive surge in 1856.
In his Encyclopedia of United States and Colonial Proof Coins 1722–1989 (1989), Walter Breen estimated a survival rate of 15 to 20 pieces for the 1855 Liberty Seated Quarter Proof (#5551). However, he cited only six specific examples:
- The Mint Cabinet Piece: Now held in the National Numismatic Collection at the Smithsonian.
- Auction Citations: The remaining five were identified through legacy auction records. With the exception of the Boyd piece, most were described vaguely. While two were plated in early catalogs, only one can be satisfactorily linked to a modern specimen.
The Modern Census: PCGS Population Analysis
The current PCGS population is bifurcated between standard Proofs and frosted Cameos.
Cameo Proofs (4 total)
The PCGS Census logs four Cameo examples. Three are traceable to 21st-century auctions and possess discrete characteristics detailed in our table below; the fourth remains elusive.
Standard Proofs (7 total)
We have identified seven active PCGS certifications in this category: Three feature PCGS TrueView photography. One was last traded by Heritage Auctions in 2015. The remainder have either traded privately, are held in longtime collections, or have been cracked out and reencapsulated without PCGS having been notified to deactive the old certification number.
Of those we can trace:
- The Dell Loy Hansen Specimen (PCGS PR63): Distinguished by a curious mark above the eagle's wing, this is likely the Woodin-Newcomer-Boyd coin.
- The PCGS PR62 Specimen: Appears to be the same coin illustrated in Stack’s October 1956 sale of the Major Lenox R. Lohr Collection.
Two additional specimens—one from the John J. Pittman Collection (with its notable obverse fingerprint) and another from the Grant Pierce Collection—round out the count of coins traceable through public auction data. This brings the total number of confirmed, distinct examples to 10.
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