The Harry W. Bass, Jr. Specimen of the Proof 1825/4/1 Half Eagle. Only Three Examples Known During the 1820s, the marketing of yearly Proof coinage to the wider numismatic market was still three decades in the future for the United States Mint. This is not surprising as coin collecting in this country did not experience its first significant growth in popularity until the late 1850s. Earlier, there were few collectors, most of whom were concentrated in the larger cities of the Northeast, most no