Although other mints from around the world have been making reverse proof coins for a number of years, the United States Mint produced its first reverse proof coin in 2006. The mint commemorated the twentieth anniversary of the Bullion Coinage Program by issuing a special American Silver Eagle bullion coin minted in Philadelphia and an American Gold Eagle minted at West Point. Both coins featured the reverse proof finish. Since that time, a number of other coins have also been made with the reverse proof finish, including (but not limited to) the following:
2006-W American Eagle Gold $50 2006-P American Eagle Silver Dollar 2011-P American Eagle Silver Dollar 2012-S American Eagle Silver Dollar 2013-W American Eagle Silver Dollar 2013-W Gold Buffalo (Bison) $50 2014-W Kennedy Half-Dollar Silver2015-P Roosevelt Dime Silver2015-P Presidential Dollar Harry S. Truman2015-P Presidential Dollar Dwight D. Eisenhower2015-P Presidential dollar John F. Kennedy2015-P Presidential Dollar Lyndon B. Johnson2018-S Lincoln Penny 2018-S Jefferson Nickel 2018-S Roosevelt Dime Silver 90%2018-S America The Beautiful Quarter - Georgia2018-S America The Beautiful Quarter - Minnesota2018-S America The Beautiful Quarter - Wisconsin2018-S America The Beautiful Quarter - Michigan2018-S America The Beautiful Quarter - Rhode Island
How Proof Coins Are Made
Proof coins are specially made specimen coins sold directly to collectors that showcase the coin’s artistic beauty. The process begins by specially preparing the planchets for striking. This usually involves burnishing or polishing the planchets and then washing them to make sure that there are no foreign objects left on a planchet surface. The coin dies used to strike proof coins also receive special treatment. The dies selected to make the proof coins are of the highest quality. Additionally, the dies receive a treatment to impart a frosted surface on the entire striking face of the die. Originally this was done by treating the die with acid. In modern times a computer-controlled laser imparts the frosted surface on the die. Since the devices of the die are recessed, the finishing process polishes the field surface only. When it is used to strike a coin, the field is a mirrored surface and the devices are frosted to accentuate the details. There is some debate amongst numismatists and coin collectors as to which surface finish is preferred. More traditional coin collectors like the proof finish where the devices are frosted in the fields are mirrorlike. However, newcomers to the coin collecting hobby have tended to prefer the reverse proof finish where the fields are frosted and the devices are mirrored.
The Difference between Proof Coins and Reverse Proof Coins
The manufacturing process of reverse proof coins is very similar. Planchets are selected for their high quality, burnished/polished and then washed just like regular proof coins. It is the preparation of the coin die that makes the reverse proof coin dramatically different than a regular proof coin. Just like regular proof coins, the coin die is specially selected for its high quality. Instead of applying a frosting over the entire surface of the die, the die is polished to a high gloss finish. A computer-controlled laser frosting machine then scans the surface of the die to recognize the difference between the field and the devices. Once that is complete, the machine then uses its laser to apply a frosted finish only to the recessed device areas of the die. When the die is then used to strike the coin, the fields of the coin are frosted, and the devices have a mirrored finish. Before the advent of computer-controlled machinery at the United States Mint, reverse proof coins were a labor-intensive manual process. Since it was impossible to polish only the recessed devices on the coin die, a mint worker would have to apply a protective coating to the recessed areas so the acid would only etch the field areas of the coin die. This is the main reason why they were very few reversed proof coins produced before the advent of computer-controlled technology. Edited by: James Bucki
