Seated Liberty Dollar

The Seated Liberty Dollar was struck from 1836 to 1873 and is part of the Seated Liberty Series. Numismatists generally collect the Seated Liberty Dollar as a "type", because it is difficult to find affordable dates in this series.

Specifications

 * Designer: Obverse by Thomas Sully, reverse by Titian Peale, both executed by Christian Gobrecht
 * Obverse Design: Liberty seated on a boulder
 * Reverse Design: Eagle with outstretched wings and the Union shield on its breast
 * Edge: Plain
 * Weight: Originals - ±27.0 grams, Restrikes - ±26.7 grams
 * Diameter: ±39 millimeters
 * Composition:  Originals - Silver (89.2%), Copper (10.8%), Restrikes - Silver (90%), Copper (10%)
 * Dates Minted: 1836-1873

Background
The 1865 Seated Liberty dollar has a mintage of just 47,000. It retails $260 in Good, $345 in Fine. The 1869 Seated Liberty dollar has a mintage of 424,300. It retails $230 in Good, $295 in Fine. Two different dates– a big discrepancy in mintage numbers, but only a small difference in market values. This should tell you two things about the Seated Liberty dollar series: one, this is not a coin series widely collected by date, and two, there are definitely some bargains to be had in this series!

While the Morgan dollar of 1878-1921 is justifiably often called the “Silver Dollar of the Old West”, the Seated Liberty dollar is truly the silver dollar of the OLD West! The Seated Liberty dollar was struck from 1840 to 1873. This was the period of covered wagons, the Mormon Migration to Utah, frontier forts, Mexican California, the Gold Rush, the advent of the trans-continental railroad, and a West that was still dominated by Native American tribes. Most of the above things were either waning or gone during the era of the Morgan dollar.

History
In a way there were two different Seated Liberty dollars, though the first of these is officially an experimental piece. In 1836, the United States was getting ready to introduce the silver dollar, last struck in 1803. Christian Gobrecht designed an experimental silver dollar to make ready for the re-introduction of the U.S. silver dollar. The obverse of this experimental piece, today known as the Gobrecht Dollar, featured a seated Liberty figure with liberty cap on a staff, and fronted by a United States shield. Miss Liberty was surrounded by a blank field. Many believe this Seated Liberty figure was inspired by the Seated Britannia figure used for centuries on British coins. On the reverse of the Gobrecht dollar was a graceful flying eagle, surrounded by stars. Though today, many consider the Gobrecht dollar to be a beautiful coin, the 19th century authorities rejected the flying eagle reverse in favor of a more standard, patriotic-looking eagle. Today, many silver dollar collectors believe the Gobrecht dollar of 1836 and 1839 should be included in a complete U.S. silver dollar type collection, by virtue of the fact that some did circulate, even though only a small number were struck.

The OFFICIAL Seated Liberty dollar appeared in 1840. The Seated Liberty obverse figure of the Gobrecht dollar remained, but the stars on the Gobrecht dollar reverse were now moved to the obverse. The flying eagle on the Gobrecht dollar was replaced by the same type of heraldic eagle used on the earlier Capped Bust U.S. silver coins. The Seated Liberty dollar was the last of the Seated Liberty coin denominations to appear. Unlike the Seated Liberty half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar, the Seated Liberty dollar didn’t have its design constantly tweaked throughout its existence. In fact, there are only two types of Seated Liberty dollars: the No Motto (on the reverse) type of 1840-66, and the Motto Above Eagle type of 1866-73. That motto, of course, was “In God We Trust.”

The Seated Liberty dollar was struck at the mints of Philadelphia, New Orleans (1846-60), Carson City (1870-73) and San Francisco (1859-73). In fact, the Seated Liberty dollar was the first silver dollar struck at the new San Francisco mint building, famously known as “The Granite Lady.”

In 1873, sweeping new coinage legislation effectively put the United States on the gold standard and legislated away the provision for a standard U.S. silver dollar. This was the death knell for the little-used Seated Liberty dollar. The Seated Liberty dollar was replaced by the heavier Trade dollar, a dollar coin meant not to circulate in the United States, but in Far East trade. Over the years, a good many Seated Liberty dollars were called in and melted, thus making an already scarce coin type even scarcer! But if you keep an eye out, you can purchase scarcer-date Seated Liberty dollars (mintages under 100,000) for not much more than the cost of the much higher mintage “common” dates. This opportunity simply DOES NOT EXIST in the Morgan dollar series, so keep that in mind!

Collecting
Every Seated Liberty dollar is scarce. It’s estimated that there are tens of thousands of Morgan dollars for every one Seated Liberty dollar that survives today. Mintages for the Seated Liberty dollar only reached 1 million in two years: 1871 and 1872, with a mintage of around 1.1 million in both years. In most cases, mintages were 180,000 or less. The rarities of the series include the following: 1851 (retails $3,150 in Good), 1853 (retails $2,700 in Good), 1854 (retails $1,000 in Good), 1858 (a Proof only issue, retailing $3,000), 1871-CC (retails 2,000 in Good), 1873-CC (retails $900 in Good), and 1873-CC (retails 2,300 in Good). I have left out two pieces that are so rare, abandon all hope of ever owning them: the 1870-S, of which 12-15 are know, would fetch at least $65,000 in Fine condition, and the 1873-S where supposedly 700 were struck, but none are known today.

“Common” dates would include the 1859-O, 1860-O, 1871 and 1872. All these dates retail about $190 in Good, $240 in Fine, $425 in Extra Fine. The Seated Liberty dollar circulated, but not too extensively, which is why there aren’t usually big price jumps from Good to Fine condition, as there would be in other U.S. coin series. Though it may be difficult to find a high-grade piece of Extra Fine or higher, it’s not too hard to find a Seated Liberty dollar in at least, Fine condition.

Remember, the silver dollar is a big, heavy coin struck in fairly high relief, so it doesn’t wear down as fast as smaller silver coins. But on the downside, you will find a fair amount of Seated Liberty dollars that have been holed, plugged, have bumpy rims from the impact of being dropped or have grafitti on them.

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (No mintmark)
 * New Orleans Mint (O mintmark)
 * San Francisco Mint (S mintmark)
 * Carson City Mint (CC mintmark)