1855 $1 VF30 Certification #59819612, PCGS #6943

Charles Morgan

The 1855 Liberty Seated Dollar

The Philadelphia Mint utilized a single die pair to strike the entire 26,000-coin mintage of the 1855 Liberty Seated Dollar (#6943). Production began on May 4 and concluded on June 25, with the total mintage completed over just four calendar days.

The production disparity between denominations in 1855 was typical for the decade. While the 1855 Gold Dollar (#7532) and the reduced-weight 1855 Liberty Seated Half Dollar (#6281) were struck in large quantities, the silver dollar was not a mainstay of domestic commerce. However, there is a wrinkle with this particular issue: whereas in most years, the deonomination was struck primarily as bullion for export to Asia or South America, the 1855 Liberty Seated Dollar was largely struck for domestic circulation in California.

Consequently, while the Philadelphia-minted 1855 Half Dollars and Gold Dollars are plentiful and affordable today, very few 1855 Silver Dollars survive—and none are known in PCGS MS65 condition. With so many condition rarities, the Liberty Seated Dollar might just be the most 'slept-on' coin in the entire U.S. federal series.

Survival and Population

While some estimates place the total number of 1855 Liberty Seated Dollar survivors at nearly 1,000 specimens, the PCGS Population Report suggests a much more restrictive reality. In 40 years of grading, the census for PCGS-certified examples remains well below 150.

A steady trickle of these coins arrive at our grading offices each year, but many exhibit issues that preclude them from receiving a numeric grade. Given that the ratio of "No Grade" submissions sharply outweighs successful certifications, it is unlikely that a sizable reservoir of untapped, high-quality examples exists. While an occasional "fresh" piece may emerge from a long-held estate, the 1855 silver dollar will remains fundamentally scarce in Mint State—and exceptionally rare when coupled with strong eye appeal.

Head-to-Head: 1854 vs. 1855

Silver dollar experts Jim Osburn and Brian Cushing estimate that only about 300 specimens survive across all grades today. The traditional view is that the 1855 is similar in rarity to the 1854 (#6942), but that the 1854 generally offers coins with superior eye appeal. Neither date is known to exist in Gem Mint State (PCGS MS65 or higher), but the 1854 boasts a noticeably higher survival rate at the PCGS MS63 level and above. If you read between the lines in my write up for the 1854, you will see that that the traditional view is wrong. There aren't more 1854s at MS63 and above, there are just more active certs. We can't know for sure by how many coins the census overreports, but at least three of PCGS MS63 and above examples we've certified have not been seen in the market since the 1990s.

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