Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia
Q. David Bowers
David Cohen reported obtaining a group of five Mint State pieces in an article, "The Five Sisters Born 1854," in The Gobrecht Journal, March 1984. He noted that there seemed to be some overall weakness or flatness in the head and hair, but this varied from coin to coin.
As noted, resubmission of the same coin(s) for certification has put an upward twist on the population report numbers. In any event, more MS-64 and MS-65 1854 dollars have been certified than have those in lower Mint State grades. The ownership of a Mint State 1854 is a numismatic badge of distinction for any collector. However, before beginning the present study, I considered the 1854 in Mint State to be much rarer than apparently it is.
1854 Proofs: Beginning in this year, Proof sets were issued with vigor, and apparently at least 50 to 100 sets reached collectors. Walter H. Breen in 1977 estimated that possibly a couple of dozen Proof 1854 dollars existed, and who knows how many he did not see or which were lost, strayed, or stolen since 1854. (In an article in The Gobrecht Journal, November 1990, "Estimating Proof Mintages for Early Dollars," Weimar W. White gave figures based upon auction appearances of early vs.Iate issues as related to known mintages of the later dates. His estimates: 1854: 99-148 Proofs coined; 1855: 95-143; 1856: 135-203; 1857: 164-247; 1858: 318-478.)
It seems probable that Proof 1854 Liberty Seated dollars were issued with silver Proof sets of the year, and that additional pieces were sold separately. The dollar, though rare, is considerably less rare than Proof trimes, half dimes, dimes, quarters, and half dollars of the same year.
Varieties
Business strikes:
1.Normal Date: Breen-5450. Obverse: Just one obverse die was used to make business strikes, and it is characterized by having the base of the 4 lightly repunched, a feature which is seen best on early impressions. The date logotype was punched into the die deeper at the bottom than at the top, with the result that the bottoms of all numerals are slightly bolder than are the upper sections. Overall, the date is delicately impressed in the die, giving the figures a somewhat elegant appearance. Reverse: The elements of most vertical stripes in the shield extend into the horizontal lines above, giving a profusion of cross-hatching visible under magnification. The die finisher was very careless on this one! Mint State examples, quite rare, are deeply frosty rather than prooflike.
Proofs:
1. Proof issue: Breen-5451. Obverse: Instantly identifiable by a triangular raised defect or "island" above and to the right of the numeral 5 in the date. All seen by me have this feature. Reverse: Scattered die file marks slant down to the right in the shield, with the two plainest being in the leftmost white stripe. All white stripes have full mirror surfaces. Specimens are often weak at the eagle's right (on the left side of the coin) wing. Apart from this, Proofs are well struck, and all I have seen have been deeply mirrorlike.
1854 Liberty Seated: Market Values
