USA ½ dollar Seated Liberty Half Dollar 1861
USA, San Francisco
Rarity
Uncommon
Attributes of Coins
| Region | USA |
|---|---|
| Denomination | ½ dollar |
| Krause number | KM# A68 |
| Mintage | 939,500 |
| Metal | Silver 0.900 |
| diameter | 30.6 mm |
| weight | 12.44 g |
Obverse:
Liberty
Star
Creators:
Christian Gobrecht
LIBERTY
Reverse:
Coat of arms
Creators:
Christian Gobrecht
HALF DOL.
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Introduction of Coins
The San Francisco Mint coined nearly a million half dollars this year, its largest production to that time. Examples in the lower circulated grades are thus fairly common, while XF and AU pieces are only slightly scarce. At the Mint State level, however, this issue joins its forebears as a rare coin, with gems being exceedingly so. Harshly cleaned examples showing little or no wear remain from the so-called Guatemala Hoard that surfaced around 1956. These coins were evidently darkly toned, and the market of that time was dominated by a "bright is best" mindset. Had the hoard coins been preserved as found, modern conservation techniques may very well have created a number of additional gem specimens. The typical 1861-S half dollar reveals considerable die erosion, as the higher than usual mintage seems to have been accomplished by running the dies far too long. The Philadelphia Mint shipped only six obverse dies for 1861-S half dollar production, while enough reverse dies of earlier years were on hand that no more were shipped until 1862. All of these display the old reverse hub of 1842, but both Large S and Medium S mintmarks are known. All six obverse dies have been identified by Wiley and Bugert, and these were paired seven times with the Large S reverses and three times with Medium S dies. The latter variety is slightly the more scarce but not enough to carry a premium price. These mintmark sizes represent the only collectible varieties for 1861-S.Read More
