1853 $1 AU55 Certification #07440918, PCGS #6941

A superb example covered with rich burnt orange toning over smooth surfaces. The striking weakness seen on Liberty's thigh, toe, and stars 12 and 13, is trumped by the beautiful and naturally toned surfaces. Clearly a premium quality example that was awarded a gold CAC sticker. The increase in value for silver on the international market brought about by the California Gold Rush resulted in very little bullion being deposited for coinage at the Philadelphia Mint in 1850, 1851, and 1852. Silver all but disappeared from domestic circulation at the same time, as the coins were bought up by exchange and bullion brokers. The Act of February 21, 1853, sought to remedy this situation by making the smaller denominations from the half dime through half dollar subsidiary, which allowed these pieces to return to active circulation. The Act left the weight of the silver dollar unchanged, however, which mattered little since these coins were struck solely at the request of bullion depositors who used them in export trade. Beginning in 1853 requests for silver dollars increased again and, indeed, from that point through the end of the Liberty Seated series in 1873 most issues of this type were essentially predecessors to the purposely authorized trade dollar of 1873 to 1878. Most of the 46,110 circulation strike silver dollars produced in 1853 were shipped overseas, primarily to Liverpool, England or China. Many of the coins shipped to England eventually returned to the United States in payment for goods such as cotton, which accounts for most of the circulated survivors of issues such as the 1853.

Charles Morgan

The 1853 Liberty Seated Dollar

The Coinage Act of February 21, 1853, brought significant change to the American monetary system. Following the discovery of vast quantities of alluvial gold in the placer mines of newly acquired California, the tenuous balance between gold and silver collapsed. Silver’s value relative to gold climbed to the point where the continued minting of American silver coins served only to benefit speculators.

By passing the Act, Congress transformed the silver denominations—excluding the dollar—into subsidiary coinage. Coins produced under the new standard weighed slightly less, ensuring they were worth more by tale (face value) than by their intrinsic metal weight. Consequently, the older, heavier coins disappeared from commerce; many were melted down, often by the Mint itself, which used the reclaimed bullion to strike silver coins according to the new standard.

The Philadelphia Mint struck the entire 1853 Liberty Seated Dollar (#6941) business-strike mintage across just two Thursdays, eight months apart. The vast majority—39,000 coins—were produced on April 21, with the final 7,110 coins struck at the very end of the year, on December 29. By comparison, the Philadelphia Mint struck a record 4,076,051 Gold Dollars (#7521) the same year.

Unlike subsidiary silver coins, which underwent weight reductions in 1853 to curb speculation, the silver dollar remained at its original weight. Because it was not a regularly circulating denomination (at least not, domestically), Congress overlooked it when passing the Coinage Act of April 21, 1853. Since the denomination's reintroduction in 1840, these dollars primarily served as bullion for export to Asian and Latin American merchants or were hoarded by banks as speculative assets and reserves.

Die Varieties and Striking Characteristics

Although the Mint prepared two obverse dies for this issue, all known examples originate from a single die (OC-1) and the two emissions can't be told apart. This variety is easily identified by the "chin whiskers" detail on Liberty. Collectors should also note common striking weaknesses, particularly flatness on the right-side stars where definition is often lost around star 10.

Collecting the 1853 Liberty Seated Dollar

While the 1853 Liberty Seated Dollar survives in all circulated grades, it is most frequently encountered in PCGS holders in About Uncirculated (AU) condition; however, the majority of extant gradable examples likely fall within the Very Fine (VF) to Extremely Fine (XF) range. Mint State examples are uncommon up to PCGS MS64 and become prohibitively rare in higher grades.

A small hoard of uncirculated 1853 Liberty Seated Dollars, which reportedly surfaced in the late 1970s or early 1980s, perhaps contributed to the available number of Choice Mint State examples. This event may explain the cluster of similar specimens in today's market, which are often characterized by apricot-golden toning and muted eye appeal.

Of the known examples, the Bruce Morelan-Dell Loy Hansen example in PCGS MS66+ is the consensus finest known.

 

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