Lot 2332
1856. PCGS graded Proof 64. Only 1,500 believed to exist today. Popular key date. Lovely toning on both sides. Many Proof examples of the elusive 1856 Flying Eagle show dull or non-existent mirrors in the fields. This piece, however, is more nicely mirrored and the rims are strongly defined, leaving no question about this coin's Proof status. It is believed that perhaps as many as 2,000 pieces were struck from this die pairing with some 1,500 examples believed extant today. Curiously, a significant number (probably around 300 pieces) of this variety are found with some degree of circulation. Richard Snow, an authority on the Flying Eagle Cent series, theorizes that the sale of 1856 Flying Eagles stagnated after the outset of the Civil War, and the remaining supply in the Mint may have been mistakenly released into circulation. Pop 195; 44 finer (PCGS # 2037) .
Technical details: After working dies were made to strike Flying Eagle cents, the dies were dressed or finished to remove burrs and surface irregularities. This was probably done on some type of a reciprocating or rotary lapping device (if the latter, the flat edge of the device would have been used edge-on, as the finish lines in dies are absolutely parallel, not arc-like.'
Proof dies were given special mirror finishes. Often tiny parallel raised lines can be seen on business strikes and Proofs, these being die finishing marks. While these can occur anywhere on a coin, typically they are in the field or flat area and are most readily seen in the field close to the border dentils. Magnification is required to discern them. Hold a coin carefully and turn it so that light from a bulb reflects from the coin's field into your eye.
Among Proof dies, those dated 1856 were polished less fully than those dated 1857 and 1858? Among nearly all Proof Flying Eagle cents, the Proof surface is not as mirrorlike as that found, for example, on 1857 and 1858 Proof silver or gold coins.
Estimated Value $14,000 - 15,000.
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