1846 Silver Dollar - 1846 S$1 NGC PF62. Breen-5435. This attractive, rare, toned 1846 Proof Silver Dollar has mint luster remaining within its devices. The blue-gray and gun-metal gray devices are set against somewhat darker fields. The surfaces are original and free from contact marks and other distractions including visible hairlines. As expected for a proof coin, the strike is sharp with full details on Libertys head, the centers of the stars, the eagles feathers, and the dentils on both sides of the coin.

There were two obverse dies used in 1846. The normal date, the present coin, had no repunching. The other, Breen-5436, was a noticeably double punched date, 1846/1844. It has also been incorrectly called 1846 over 45. The double punched date is a naked eye blunder, which is surprising for a proof coin. 

Christian Gobrecht designed the Seated Liberty dollar. The obverse depicts Liberty seated looking over her shoulder to the left. She balances the Union Shield inscribed LIBERTY with her right hand and holds a staff on which is placed a Phrygian cap in her left. There are seven stars to the left and six to the right interrupted by her head and the capped pole. The date is below. The reverse shows the heraldic eagle looking left. It is surrounded by the required inscription and the denomination written as ONE DOL. below. Dentils are around the periphery of both sides of the coin. This design was modified by Robert Ball Hughes. He made the rock on which Liberty is seated smaller, fattened her arms, flattened out her feminine contours, and covered up most of her skin by having her carry a cloak over her elbow. The reverse design was taken from John Reichs Capped Bust half dollars, which Cornelius Vermeule called the sandwich-board eagle.

The Mint Director, Robert Patterson, said that these changes were made to improve striking quality. However, the results belie that claim. Most dollars of 1840-1865 are flat and unevenly struck with weakness in various parts of the design.

Gobrecht was the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration. This was an excellent job and Gobrecht was understandably reluctant to work for the Mint for less money than he was making at the engraving firm. In order to persuade him to leave, Mint Director Robert Patterson prevailed upon Chief Engraver William Kneass, who had had a stroke, to take less in salary so more money would be available to hire Gobrecht on a permanent basis. In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to Kneass. After Kneass stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif, which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle. 

Robert Ball Hughes was a British born sculptor who came with his wife to America in 1828 or 1829. He is known for his statues of Governor Clinton of New York and Alexander Hamilton. He then moved to Boston where he did sculptures of Washington Irving and Nathaniel Bowditch, founder of modern maritime navigation. His statue of statue of Bowditch was the first large bronze to be cast in America. He also designed numerous medallions and coins for the United States mint, including a modification of Gobrechts Liberty Seated design on several denominations. In his final years he made burnt wood pictures known as pyroengravings of various scenes from literature and history.

The 1846 proof silver dollar had an estimated mintage of 10 to 15 pieces. It is fundamentally rare in all grades. In its population report, NGC shows only the present coin in PF62 condition. PCGS has none at PR62.