Estimated number of pieces known:
13-15 (52-60% of original mintage)
Characteristics: Obverse
has date placed very high in the field, numeral 1 closest
to truncation of the next but none are actually touching.
Placement of date in field is relatively to the right, although
the difference is minimal to other years. Reverse uses the
same die as the previous year, with no individual diagnostics
discerned. It would also be struck during the next couple
of years, especially saved for the purpose of striking the
limited number of Proofs on a single day of the year. Those
of 1865 were delivered on March 8 of that year. During the
minting process, the dies were inserted wrong on at least
once occasion, as the Smithsonian example of this rare date
has the dies aligned medal-turn. It seems every other example
has the dies in the regular coin-turn alignment.
Comments: The final year
of the American Civil War saw another tiny number of Proof
quarter eagles struck at the Philadelphia Mint. Struck a
month before the end of America’s major war of the
19th century, this is a date that is much in demand. Not
only does the miniscule mintage of 25 Proofs contribute
to this, the business strike mintage was extremely small
as well, with only 1,520 quarter eagles struck for circulation.
As such, with circulation strikes and Proofs combined, this
is one of the rarest Liberty Quarter eagles, only rivaled
by Proof-only issues as the 1841 and 1863, and some low-mintage
dates. Over the years, this has increased the popularity
of this date. However, there have been virtually no new
examples on the market for the last couple of decades. As
such, the estimated number of examples known has never exceeded
the low number of fifteen coins.
Walter Breen, in 1977, believed that at
least twelve examples were known to exist, and which he
claimed to have seen. These included both the examples in
the Smithsonian institution and the American Numismatic
Society, permanently impounded in those collections and
thus unavailable to collectors. At least four were known
to him as impaired, cleaned, damaged or with wear from circulation.
The remaining pieces have been included in major collections
as Eliasberg, Norweb and Bass, where they were always considered
to be prime rarities. Auction appearances are very rare,
and when an 1865 quarter eagle, in any format of grade crosses
the auction block, it will be considered a very important
moment for the specialist.
The Proofs of this year have been much underappreciated
because of the rarity of the business strikes, of which
perhaps the total number of unique examples known to exist
is lower than the Proofs. The Proofs that are known to exist
are usually of lower quality than average, with gems being
of the finest rarity. Cameo contrast is seen on virtually
every example that is known to exist, although it comes
with varying strength and deepness. This can be blamed on
the preparation of the dies and planchets at the Mint in
1865, as not every die and planchet received utmost care
before the coin was struck. Some Proofs are known to have
circulated, and are found with varying degree of wear. These
are discerned from the business strikes from the position
of the curl in Liberty’s hair on the obverse. On the
Proofs, the lowest curl will be positioned almost completely
above the 5 in the date. On business strikes, it is placed
more to the left, with part of the curl above the 6.
