1854 10C, CAM PR(PCGS#84743)

Summer 2025 Global Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

3032

Grade

PR65CAM

Price

36,000

Lot Description

An exciting offering for advanced Liberty Seated dime enthusiasts, Proof type collectors, and more generalized collectors of early U.S. Mint Proof coinage. This is an elegant Gem Cameo specimen dressed in warm champagne-gold iridescence. The surfaces exhibit frosty and sharply rendered design elements that sit comfortably against a reflective mirror backdrop. Expertly produced and carefully preserved.<p>Although Proof sets were first sold to the public in 1858, it seems that upon application by numismatists they were available beginning at least by 1854, perhaps coinciding with the first full year of service by Mint Director James Ross Snowden, the most numismatically interested person to hold the position up to that time. No full Proof sets were issued in 1853, and apparently only a few scattered examples were made.<p>Beginning in 1854, copper and silver Proof sets were issued on a regular basis. In terms of surviving Proofs today in various series, of the years 1854, 1855, 1856, and 1857, the most often seen dates are 1856 and 1857, followed by the considerably rarer 1854 and 1855. In the 1950s, in an era when few other numismatists were interested in these early Proofs, Q. David Bowers bravely set about acquiring pre-1858 Proofs on a when encountered and if affordable basis. He learned that perhaps 75% to 80% of the coins offered as "Proofs" - especially for coins dated prior to 1853 - were prooflike circulation strikes, polished coins, etc. Accordingly, historical descriptions in auction catalogs are not of much meaning for computing true rarity.<p>Today in 2024, third-party certification has allowed for a much more accurate assessment of rarity across all classic U.S. coin series. The generally accepted estimate for the Proof 1854 dime, as advanced by the experts at <em>PCGS CoinFacts</em>, is that only eight to 10 specimens are known. The PCGS/CAC Proof-65 Cameo specimen offered here is among the finest certified. Its return to the open market through this sale represents a fleeting opportunity not to be missed.