USA ½ dollar Seated Liberty Half Dollar 1872
USA, Carson City
Rarity
Scarce
Attributes of Coins
| Region | USA |
|---|---|
| Denomination | ½ dollar |
| Krause number | KM# 99 |
| Mintage | 272,000 |
| 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
For those seeking a Carson City half dollar from that mint's early period (1870-74), 1872-CC is the clear go-to coin. It has the highest mintage of these issues and is much more often seen, at least in the lower circulated grades. Even so, coins grading XF and higher are rare, with Mint State survivors being extremely so. The typical 1872-CC half dollar is a bit weakly struck and may be shallow in letters BER of LIBERTY. Carson City requested four each obverse and reverse dies. For reasons unknown, it instead received six and three, respectively. Perhaps it was known that the mint already had on hand several reverse dies, as study has shown that all five actually seen on extant coins were used previously in earlier years. So low was production of silver coins at Carson City before 1875 that some of these same dies appeared again after 1872! A total of nine die marriages are known from the mixing of four obverses with five reverses. A single collar gauge of 154 is known for 1872-CC halves. This is quite distinctive from the 145 reeds seen on 1872(P) halves, and the addition of a false mintmark to the latter coins is thus easily detected. Unlike the Philadelphia and San Francisco Mints, Carson City did not create its own collars, these instead being furnished by Philly's machine shop.Read More
