Seated Liberty Dollars

Everyone knows what the Statue of Liberty stands for in the harbor off New York. It stands for a freedom and a liberty that will always be America’s right. Why not have a coin—or several at that—that show her image in all her greatness? Well, Mr. Christian Gobrecht was the third chief engraver at the US Mint from the mid 1830s till his death in 1844. Born in 1785, it was his seated liberty design that showed up in 1836, not first on the Silver Dollar but on the dime, half-dime, quarter, half-dollar and later on the twenty-cent piece—a coin that only used the seated liberty design. Because it looked too much like the quarter, though, it was discontinued in 1878.

Gobrecht got his ideas for the seated liberty from the Trade coins that were minted for use in the Orient. The front or obverse side of the coin shows Lady Liberty looking over her right shoulder, holding the union shield in her right hand and a pole with a liberty cap looking toward the future. The backside or reverse side of the coin shows an eagle, with the union shield over his chest holding olive branches and arrows in his talons. The eagle’s wings are slightly opened, ready for whatever may come his way. The seated liberty design was used for the dollar coin starting in 1840 until 1873.

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Before Gobrecht created the Seated Liberty Silver dollar, however, he had minted the first Gobrecht Dollar. This dollar coin was near exact in design except it had Gobrecht’s name written on a banner—this seemed a little much, so the banner and name were done away with when the 1840s version of the Seated Liberty Silver Dollar came out. The better-known Seated Liberty Dollar replaced the Gobrecht Dollar. There were only a couple thousand of these Gobrecht Dollar coins produced; the exact number hovers around 1600, making them very rare and indeed very expensive. The coin was re-produced in 1870. These restrikes are often worth more than the Gobrecht Dollar of 1836, as they are fewer in number.

The Seated Liberty Dollar was put into normal circulation until the mid 1850s. The silver within the coin at this time was worth more than face value of one dollar. The coins were still minted at this time due to their necessity for trading abroad and keeping up with other super-traders, like France, Spain, Mexico and the like. When silver took a nosedive in 1870—with the mining of silver booming—the coins were again used in the US. Even before this time, however, people still used the dollar coins as regular money, though some knew the silver value was worth more or less than the face value of the coin. Those who were illegally paid in America with the Seated Liberty Dollar (intended for abroad) came out ahead when silver shot back up again.

The coins were minted in either one of four places: Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco or Carson City. The mintmarks were placed underneath the eagle’s talons on the backside of the coin. If the mintmark is blank, it was minted in Philadelphia. The coins retain a value today for their special history. Some of the rarities and/or most valuable include the 1870 coin minted in San Francisco, as there are less than 15 of these in the whole world. No one can beat the 1851 coin, however, minted in New Orleans. There is only one of these and there’s no price tag, as it is in private hands and not for resale. The mystery leads to the intrigue and therefore the great history and rarity of these Seated Liberty Dollars.

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