1877 Twenty-Cent Piece Proof
Proof struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 510 made
- Mintage
- 510
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 5 g
- Diameter
- 22 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1877 Twenty-Cent Piece Proof worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1877 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
What would make yours worth more:
- Grade and, for proofs, strong cameo contrast
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1877 Twenty-Cent Piece Proof rare?
- Fairly. The Mint made 510 for collectors. Most were kept in their original packaging.
- Is the 1877 Twenty-Cent Piece Proof silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.1447 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1877 Twenty-Cent Piece?
- On the reverse, below the eagle. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark.
- How many 1877 Twenty-Cent Piece proofs were made?
- 510.
What to check on your 1877
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Judge the grade under good light. LIBERTY on the shield is raised on this coin, so it wears quickly. Check the eagle's breast and the stars.
Proofs from 1877 were struck one at a time in small numbers and many were later spent or mishandled. Look for hairlines from cleaning, which lower the grade.
The story of the 1877
The short life of the twenty-cent piece (1875 to 1878)
The Act of March 3, 1875 created the twenty-cent piece, promoted by Senator John P. Jones of Nevada to use western silver and ease change-making in the West. William Barber's design closely resembled the Seated Liberty quarter, but the coin is smaller with a plain edge and LIBERTY raised on the shield. It weighed exactly 5 grams. The public confused it with the quarter almost at once.
San Francisco struck 1,155,000 in 1875, by far the largest issue, while Carson City made 133,290 and Philadelphia 36,910. In 1876 Philadelphia made 14,640 and Carson City 10,000. Nearly all the 1876-CC coins were melted, leaving only a small number known. The 1877 and 1878 were struck only as proofs before Congress ended the coin in 1878.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1877
Cent production fell sharply as the economy stayed depressed after the Panic of 1873. The 1877 Indian Head cent has the lowest Philadelphia mintage of the series and is its best-known key date.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock in a design very close to the quarter of the same era, which caused endless confusion. Two details tell it apart: the twenty-cent piece has a plain edge rather than a reeded one and the word LIBERTY on the shield is raised rather than sunk. The reverse shows an eagle with TWENTY CENTS below.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Twenty-Cent Piece (1875–1878) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1877 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Proof |
| Mintage | 510 |
| Face value | 20¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 5 grams |
| Diameter | 22 mm |
| Edge | Plain |
| Silver content | 0.1447 troy oz (4.500 g) |
| Designer | William Barber |
Mintage: Twenty-cent piece (United States) (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.