Liberty Seated Dollar (1836 - 1873)

Overview

Except for its prototype, the United States Mint continued to create the Seated Liberty Dollar for more than a decade after it was first introduced. This was the second Silver Dollar that the Mint made. The United States Mint continued to manufacture the Seated Liberty for more than three decades after it was first introduced. Coins like this one, which was designed by Christian Gobrecht and played an important part in the early trade of the United States, continue to be highly coveted collectibles among numismatists.

The design is like that of earlier Liberty Seated issues, with Miss Liberty seated on a rock, holding a liberty cap on a pole in her left hand, and clutching a shield with the word "Liberty" engraved on it in her right hand. The date is located below the thirteen stars that are located above. On the reverse, there is a depiction of an eagle holding an olive branch and arrows, which is meant to represent both peace and readiness for armed action.

During its almost four decades of manufacture, the Liberty Seated Dollar underwent many design evolutions.

• • The first type of Gobrecht Dollars, which were issued between 1836 and 1839, had a Flying Eagle Reverse with Stars. Additionally, there was Type 2, which consisted of a Flying Eagle in reverse with no stars assigned to it.
• • Coins that were minted sans the phrase "IN GOD WE TRUST" between the years 1840 and 1865.
• • The phrase "IN GOD WE TRUST" was added to the reverse of the coin in 1866 because of the increasing public feeling that followed the conclusion of the Civil War.

However, several Liberty Seated Dollars were also manufactured at New Orleans (O), San Francisco (S), and Carson City (CC), in addition to the Philadelphia Mint, which was responsible for striking most of these dollars.

• • 1839 Gobrecht Dollars are extremely rare and in high demand because of their limited mintage.
• • Both 1851 and 1852 are extremely uncommon, with only a handful of examples known to exist.
• • A legendary rarity, just a few instances of the 1870-S have been preserved to this day.

Coin collectors will place a higher value on coins that have been maintained in great shape, regardless of the age of the coin itself. Because it is all too typical for a coin that is more than a century old to be unduly damaged, the discovery of one of these coins that is in superb shape is nothing short of astounding.