1845 Seated Liberty Silver Dollar

1845 Liberty Seated dollars are classic silver coins that are widely collected by U.S. type collectors who build sets of 19th-century coins. Seated Liberty silver dollars are coins that bear the Liberty Seated obverse shared with most other silver U.S. denominations of the mid- through late-19th century. Liberty Seated silver dollars were designed by Christian Gobrecht, who was the Chief Engraver of the United States Mint at the time. He also designed the other Liberty Seated silver coins struck during that era.

Liberty Seated silver dollars were produced from 1840 through 1873 and were struck at four of the then-operating mints, including those in Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Carson City. Liberty Seated silver dollars circulated widely throughout much of the 1840s and 1850s, but when silver bullion prices toward the end of that period, they became more commonly used in foreign trade.

1845 Liberty Seated dollars were made exclusively at the Philadelphia Mint, where 24,500 pieces were struck. Only a fraction of that number survives today, and most of those are in relatively poor condition. Many Seated Liberty silver dollar have been cleaned, are holed, or otherwise exhibit damage. The value of an 1845 Liberty Seated dollar starts at around $325 for a piece grading Very Good-8 and increases up to $9,000 or more for uncirculated specimens. Proofs are valued at around $30,000 and up.

1845 Liberty Seated dollars are 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, and each coin contains 0.77344 ounces, or nearly an ounce, of pure silver. Measuring 38.1 millimeters in diameter and weighing in at 26.73 grams, Liberty Seated dollars are the same size and heft as the more commonly encountered Morgan and Peace silver dollars.