The Seated Liberty half dollar
Fifty-three years of production spanning three different weight standards, two rounds of arrows beside the date, and the Civil War. Weight is the thing to check before assuming any melt figure.
| Years | Alloy | Weight | Silver | At spot |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1839-1853 | 90% silver | 13.36 g | 0.3866 ozt | $26.33 |
| 1853-1873 Weight cut by the Act of 1853 after a silver shortage. Arrows beside the date mark the change on 1853 to 1855 coins. | 90% silver | 12.44 g | 0.3600 ozt | $24.52 |
| 1873-1891 Weight raised slightly by the Coinage Act of 1873, again marked with arrows in 1873 and 1874. | 90% silver | 12.50 g | 0.3617 ozt | $24.64 |
The design
Designed by Christian Gobrecht. The obverse shows Liberty seated on a rock holding a shield and a liberty pole; the reverse shows a heraldic eagle with a shield. The coin measures 30.6mm across.
Finding the mint mark
Reverse, below the eagle.
Mint marks matter more than most people expect: the same date from a different mint can be a common coin or a scarce one. What each letter means.
Dates in this series
This series predates the 1892 start of our date-by-date pages. Early half dollars are collected as rarities rather than as silver, and a melt figure is rarely the right way to think about a coin worth several hundred dollars or more. Why the date pages start where they do.