Q. David Bowers
Rarity of Circulated Liberty Seated Dollars
Many factors affect the rarity of circulated Liberty Seated dollars. I give my thoughts concerning them:
Circulated grades in the Liberty Seated dollar series range from well-worn, or Good grade, up through Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine, and About (or Almost) Uncirculated, the last-named often showing original mint lustre. Most extant specimens fall in the categories from VF-20 to EF-45. Taking the entire universe of extant Liberty Seated coins, far more are in circulated grades than in Mint State or Proof. However, for certain dates, such as those during the Civil War years (1861-1865), the rarity of worn coins rivals that of Proofs!
Liberty Seated dollars were workhorse coins, and during the early years, most went into the channels of commerce, where they served to pay for goods and services. During this process, wear occurred on the coins.
An evaluation of the methodology I used to estimate the rarity of circulated coins follows:
1. The element of chance survival: The availability of circulated Liberty Seated dollars dated in the 1840s exists in approximate proportion to their mintage. The date of which most were made is 1842, which registered a production of 184,618, followed in descending order by 1841 (173,000), 1843 (165,100), 1847 (140,750), and 1846 (1l0,000), these dates comprising those in the decade with mintages exceeding 100,000. On the low end of the scale is the 1848, of which just 15,000 were struck.
All things being equal (which they often aren't in numismatics), an 1843 Liberty Seated dollar in VF-20 grade should be 11 times more plentiful than an 1848 in the same state of preservation. Whether this is precisely true or not, I don't know. I do know, however, that the 1848 is considerably the rarer of the two.
In a 1982 study, ("Some Thoughts on Liberty Seated Dollars: A Scarcity and Price Analysis." The Gobrecht Journal, July 1982.) Donald Vettel found that the commonest of all circulated early Liberty Seated silver dollars is the 1842, which fits in nicely with the mintage versus rarity theory. On the other hand, when I had the occasion to examine long-sealed bags of Liberty Seated dollars released from the Treasury hoard through the Federal Reserve System in 1963, and had the rare pleasure of sorting through coins and arranging them in piles like poker chips, I found that among the earlier coins 1847 was the most plentiful date.
Among later Liberty Seated coins I found that 1871 (mintage: 1,073,800) is the most common circulated date and is several times more plentiful than 1872 (a date of which more were minted: 1,105,500).
Answers to such anomalies as the 1871-1872 comparison remain to be found, but, in general, the higher the mintage, the more plentiful is the date in circulated grade today.
2. Distribution procedures: Many Liberty Seated dollars made from the spring of 1853 through 1860 and many others from 1861 through 1869 were made for export. For this reason, the mintage figures for such issues as 1859-S (all of which were specifically minted to be shipped to the Orient), 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1865, among others, can be disregarded.
It really doesn't make much difference that 77,500 business strike 1861 silver dollars were minted. If it did make a difference, then by comparing the 77,500 mintage of the 1861 with the 140,750 mintage of the 1847, we could conclude that for every 1,000 1847 silver dollars now in existence, there would be somewhat more than 500 dated 1861. In actuality, for every 1,000 1847 dollars now extant, probably not more than 10 exist bearing the date 1861!
Not to belabor a point, but in my opinion this discussion of methodology dramatically shows that any serious numismatist must turn to the history books, instead of just relying on popular price guides and mintage figures, to learn which coins are really rare.
3. The value of silver: All Liberty Seated silver dollars were worth more in melt-down value than
Rarity of Circulated Liberty Seated Dollars Many factors affect the rarity of circulated Liberty Seated dollars. I give my thoughts concerning them:
Circulated grades in the Liberty Seated dollar series range from well-worn, or Good grade, up through Very Good, Fine, Very Fine, Extremely Fine, and About (or Almost) Uncirculated, the last-named often showing original mint lustre. Most extant specimens fall in the categories from VF-20 to EF-45. Taking the entire universe of extant Liberty Seated coins, far more are in circulated grades than in Mint State or Proof. However, for certain dates, such as those during the Civil War years (1861-1865), the rarity of worn coins rivals that of Proofs!
Liberty Seated dollars were workhorse coins, and during the early years, most went into the channels of commerce, where they served to pay for goods and services. During this process, wear occurred on the coins.
An evaluation of the methodology I used to estimate the rarity of circulated coins follows:
1. The element of chance survival: The availability of circulated Liberty Seated dollars dated in the 1840s exists in approximate proportion to their mintage. The date of which most were made is 1842, which registered a production of 184,618, followed in descending order by 1841 (173,000), 1843 (165,100), 1847 (140,750), and 1846 (110,000), these dates comprising those in the decade with mintages exceeding 100,000. On the low end of the scale is the 1848, of which just 15,000 were struck.
All things being equal (which they often aren't in numismatics), an 1843 Liberty Seated dollar in VF-20 grade should be 11 times more plentiful than an 1848 in the same state of preservation. Whether this is precisely true or not, I don't know. I do know, however, that the 1848 is considerably the rarer of the two.
In a 1982 study,' Donald Vettel found that the commonest of all circulated early Liberty Seated silver dollars is the 1842, which fits in nicely with the mintage versus rarity theory. On the other hand, when I had the occasion to examine long-sealed bags of Liberty Seated dollars released from the Treasury hoard through the Federal Reserve System in 1963, and had the rare pleasure of sorting through coins and arranging them in piles like poker chips, I found that among the earlier coins 1847 was the most plentiful date.
Among later Liberty Seated coins I found that 1871 (mintage: 1,073,800) is the most common circulated date and is several times more plentiful than 1872 (a date of which more were minted: 1,105,500).
Answers to such anomalies as the 1871-1872 comparison remain to be found, but, in general, the higher the mintage, the more plentiful is the date in circulated grade today.
2. Distribution procedures: Many Liberty Seated dollars made from the spring of 1853 through 1860 and many others from 1861 through 1869 were made for export. For this reason, the mintage figures for such issues as 1859-S (all of which were specifically minted to be shipped to the Orient), 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, and 1865, among others, can be disregarded.
It really doesn't make much difference that 77,500 business strike 1861 silver dollars were minted. If it did make a difference, then by comparing the 77,500 mintage of the 1861 with the 140,750 mintage of the 1847, we could conclude that for every 1,000 1847 silver dollars now in existence, there would be somewhat more than 500 dated 1861. In actuality, for every 1,000 1847 dollars now extant, probably not more than 10 exist bearing the date 1861!
Not to belabor a point, but in my opinion this discussion of methodology dramatically shows that any serious numismatist must turn to the history books, instead of just relying on popular price guides and mintage figures, to learn which coins are really rare.
3. The value of silver: All Liberty Seated silver dollars were worth more in melt-down value than face value at the time of their issue. From 1840 through the end of that decade the premium was slight, and the coins circulated freely in commerce. After 1850, the value of silver rose on international markets to the point at which the Mint no. longer paid silver dollars out for face value. As noted, Silver dollars from that point to the late 1860s were sold at a premium and were exported to foreign lands, particularly to the Orient, where most were melted.