Q. David Bowers
Although I was not involved in handling quantities of them, I watched in amazement as large numbers of Uncirculated 1859-O and, especially, 1860-O dollars came on the market in the early 1960s. Each of these coins was brilliant, but nearly all were very heavily nicked and bagmarked.
In general, issues from1840 through about, 1850 are available today in a wide range of circulated conditions from Good through. Extremely Fine. The typical grade encountered is Very Fine to Extremely Fine, for these large silver pieces did not circulate with the intensity that lower denominations did: However, now and then well-worn Good 'Or Very Good specimens surface. The word LIBERTY wore away much faster on silver dollars than On Liberty Seated coins of smaller denominations, thus a different grading standard must be used. For example, a Liberty Seated half dime Of the year 1845 can be worn nearly smooth and the inscription LIBERTY will be mostly or completely visible. By contrast an 1845 silver dollar with relatively little Wear, and with most other features (such as the eagle's wing feathers) sharp, is apt to have the central letters BER of LIBERTY worn away.
Among later issues, from 1851 through 1873, grades usually seen are Very Fine, Extremely Fine, Or AU. Good and Very Good examples are encountered less frequently, simply because such pieces were withdrawn from circulation before sufficient years elapsed for the coins to be worn down to such grades.
The word LIBERTY wore away even more quickly on the Carson City .Mint dollars of 1870 through 1873, and especially 1871-1873. These have to be graded differently from Philadelphia Liberty Seated dollars of the same era.
Rarities
There are a number of rarities among Philadelphia Mint dollars. Mint records specify only 1,300 1851s and just 1,100 1852s coined, The, 1851 business strikes (originals) have the date high in the field; the Proof restrikes, probably made circa 1858-1860, have the date centered and rust marks on the numerals.
Very few original 1851 Liberty Seated dollars can be traced today. Most of these are in varying degrees of Mint State. Circulated specimens, when encountered are apt to be in the range of Extremely Fine through AU. I have never seen a well-worn piece. The 1852 original is likewise a famous rarity. The 1858 dollar does not exist in business strike form. All are Proofs.
Many Philadelphia Mint dollars of the years 1853 through 1857 were shipped to the Orient, a fact little known to numismatists. This accounts for the great rarity of coins in all grades today. Quantities of later issues through the late 1860s were largely exported as well and are rare now. Also little known is the fact that after early 1853, Liberty Seated dollars were not available from the Mint for face value; they cost $1.08 each. All of this is discussed under the various dates enumerated in the pages to follow.
From July 1862 until the mid-1870s the Treasury did not payout any Liberty Seated coins of any denomination at face value. It did not make any difference as far as silver dollars were concerned, for they had been selling at a premium before this time. Liberty Seated dollars circulated in America in the 1840s through the early 1850s and again beginning in the mid-1870s.
How many Uncirculated specimens of various dates survive is an intriguing question. Numismatists accustomed to the frequent offerings of Mint State Morgan and Peace dollars (some of which exist to the extent of hundreds of thousands or millions of coins) have often assumed that it is necessary only to write a letter or pick up the telephone to put together a reasonably complete date run of Uncirculated Liberty Seated dollars. After all, Mint State Morgan dollars of such date-mintmark combinations as 1879-CC, 1893-CC, etc., catalogue for higher prices than do many Mint State Liberty Seated dollars, yet these Morgan dollars come on the market with regularity.
As an example, the 1993 edition of A Guide Book of U.S.Coins lists an MS-60 1859-S Liberty Seated dollar for $4,500 and a MS-60 1889-CC dollar for $5,750. In actuality, thousands of 1889-CC dollars exist in this grade, while probably only a dozen or so
Mint State 1859-S dollars are on the face of the earth. Why, then, the disparate catalogue values? The answer is that collecting Mint State Morgan dollars is a much more popular pursuit than collecting Liberty Seated coins in equivalent grade. Thus, coin for coin, Morgan dollars are more expensive. However, the newcomer to numismatics may not know the reason.
In Mint State, particularly MS-63 or finer, many varieties of Liberty Seated dollars are great rarities. It is often the case that a coin is very common in worn grades-the 1843 dollar being an example-but is so rare in higher Mint State levels that even the greatest collections are apt to lack an example.