1866 Proof Nickel Pattern - J-531

Coin Details

Auction Record

$9,600 PR65+ 11-22-2020 Heritage Auctions

Description

The penultimate entry in the 1866 Shield Nickel alloy testing program, J-531 is one of the last compositions to be evaluated on the five-cent pattern dies. The series that began with J-473 and the adopted copper-nickel design now reaches its conclusion with some of the rarest individual varieties in American pattern coinage. These final entries serve as bookends to a testing program whose scale and thoroughness were unprecedented in 1866 and would not be matched for any subsequent American denomination. The proof surfaces of this late-sequence pattern preserve the full beauty of Longacre's Shield design on a planchet of experimental composition.

Rarity Notes

R.7 to R.8. Approximately 3-8 examples survive.

Cross References

Pollock-3599