Liberty Seated Dollars John Frost Dick Osburn Carl

Liberty Seated Dollars John Frost Dick Osburn, Carl Feldman, Brian Cushing

The beginning… 1836 A matter of national pride • Mint Director R. K. Patterson: standard monetary unit not struck for more than 30 years – A matter of pride, we needed to resume dollar coinage • Patterson to Gobrecht: design a coin “of particularly artistic merit” worthy of our new Dollar • Would propagate to the other silver coins • Pencil sketch by Thomas Sully Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Seated Dollars are scarce items! • Only 6. 5 million struck total during the entire series – Less than 1/100 the number of Morgan Dollars struck! One • for every 1878 -P Morgan dollar alone had over 10 million struck! Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 3

Many coins of low mintage • More than 10 coins with a mintage of 20, 000 or less – – – – • 1858 1852 1851 1871 -CC 1873 -CC 1872 -CC 1850 1872 -S 1870 -CC 1862 1848 1844 1859 -S 300 proofs only 1, 100 1, 376 2, 300 3, 150 7, 500 9, 000 11, 758 11, 540 15, 000 20, 000 And this doesn’t even include 1870 -S or 1873 -S Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 4

Two Major Design Sub-types No Motto (1840 -1865) 1866 Fantasy Piece Liberty Seated Collectors Club With Motto (1866 -1873)

Plenty to Collect Two major types • 34 dates • 45 dates and mintmarks • About 50 varieties, mostly minor, but some very interesting • Repunched dates − Doubled dies − Misplaced Dates (MPDs) − 200+ die marriages (including proofs) • Moderate cuds and die cracks • Liberty Seated Collectors Club

The “common” dates No Motto issues – 1842, 1843, 1859 -O and 1860 -O With Motto issues – 1871, 1872 1859 -O, 1860 -O most available Mint State Other frequently encountered dates 1841, 1846, 1847, 1849 – 1840 also fairly common, but high demand (first year of issue) – 1870, 1873 available, but better dates – Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Difficult Dates and Stoppers Expensive dates: • Most Stoppers: • 1851 (about 50 known) • 1852 (about 50 known) • 1858 (proof only) • Most CCs The BIG Stoppers: • 1870 -S (9 known) • 1866 No Motto (Fantasy piece, 2 known) Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Carson City issues 1870 -CC is the most available issue – very high demand • 1872 -CC has been more available in the last few years • – • Almost always with problems 1871 -CC and 1873 -CC rarest, most have problems Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 9

Legendary Rarity – 1870 -S Dollar In this series, one rarity stands alone, the 1870 -S dollar • No record of mintage, except a note discovered in 2004 about coining one for the Cornerstone of the new Mint • The coins started showing up in the 1870 s • Rarer than 1804 dollars, 9 are known • • Now believed to be presentation pieces at the Grand Masonic Ceremony for the laying of the cornerstone Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Varieties Major Varieties • 1842 Misplaced date (MPD) • 1844 DDO and MPD • 1856/6 • 1867/1867 large/small date • MPDs: 1869, 1871, 1872 • Several other doubled die obverses and reverses • Interesting die states – 1842 with 3 obverse rim cuds (also 1 and 2 cuds) Liberty Seated Collectors Club

1842 With 3 Rim Cuds Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Also a Misplaced Date 2 in Rock Rim Cud Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Varieties • 1867/1867 large over small date – • Half dollar date punch? 1872 misplaced date – “ 2” in the rock Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 14

Overrated Liberty Seated Dollars • 1858 – proofs only, mintage estimated at 300 – • Mint report says 80, but probably 200 known Overvalued on basis of scarcity, but proof-only status insures that will not change Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 15

Underrated Liberty Seated Dollars 1848, 1850, 1857, 1859 -S, 1860, 1861, 1862, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1870 -CC, 1872 -S, 1873 • Almost the entire series is underrated at current prices • – Seated Dollars haven’t been heavily collected, scarce to rare Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 16

Collecting Liberty Seated dollars • Most collect this series by type – • Mintmark collection: P, O, S, CC – • However, 1851, 1852, 1858 are still stoppers Year and mintmark set – • Often 1840 -P, 1859 -60 -O, 1859 -S or 1872 -S, 1870 -CC 34 -piece Year set – • Two subtypes, both without and with Motto Many underrated dates Varieties Some focus on varieties, not usually collected separately – Having an interesting variety of a date is a bonus – • Exonumia Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Degree of difficulty Just 44 coins, excluding 1870 -S • Relatively few “common” dates • Many issues very scarce, several rare • Assembling a complete set of problem-free circulated coins prohibitively difficult and would take many years • – Even with unlimited budget Assembling set with mostly problemfree 1 examples possible, will still take years • Everything available eventually at auction, maximizing your cost basis • 1 “original-ish” coins with minimal problems Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Typical Costs and Time Required Collection Common date Type set Date-only set Date and Mintmark, minus 1870 -S Liberty Seated Collectors Club G-F $350 / 1 coin show $700 / 1 coin show F-XF XF-AU MS 63 $550 / $900 / $4, 500 / 1 coin 2 coin shows $1, 100 / $1, 800 / $18, 000 / 1 coin 3 coin shows $100, 000 $65, 000/ $140, 000/ / $375, 000/ 10 -20 5 -10 years $150, 000 $85, 000/ $225, 000/ $1, 000 / 10 -20 years 5 -15 years Page 19

References • Book: A Register of Liberty Seated Dollar Varieties, by Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing • Also a web book at: www. seateddollarvarieties. com • Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States, A Complete Encyclopedia, by Q. David Bowers, Bowers & Merena Galleries, 1993 Liberty Seated Collectors Club Page 20

Summary of Liberty Seated Dollars • • • Despite being a relatively short series, Dollars represent a tremendous challenge Even with recent price gains, there is a lot of rarity for the buck A perfect series for the focused and dedicated collector Acquiring the rare dates requires diligence and an occasional compromise Completing a set provides the collector a huge sense of accomplishment Extremely rewarding to exhibit one’s collection Liberty Seated Collectors Club

Any questions? www. LSCCweb. org