1848 Seated Liberty Silver Dollar

1848 Liberty Seated dollars are silver coins that are mainly collected by type collectors who build sets of 19th-century United States 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. U.S. Mint Chief Engraver Christian Gobrecht designed the prototype of the Liberty Seated silver dollar in the late 1830s and the series was first released in 1840. In addition to Liberty Seated silver dollars, Gobrecht also designed other Liberty Seated coins from that era.

Liberty Seated silver dollars were struck until 1873, and they were made at four of the then-operating mints, including those in Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, and Carson City. However, in 1848, Liberty Seated silver dollars were struck only at the Philadelphia Mint. These large silver coins circulated widely throughout much of the 1840s and 1850s, but they fell out of use as silver prices escalated in the 1850s. That is when they were more commonly used in foreign trade.

1848 Liberty Seated dollars were made in very small numbers, with just 15,000 struck during the year. Only a fraction of these still exist, and most of the survivors are in relatively poor condition. 1848 Liberty Seated dollars are worth $375 in a grade of Very Good-8 to $5,000 or more in uncirculated condition. 1848 proofs dollars are valued at around $30,000 and up.

1848 Liberty Seated dollars are made from a composition of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, and each coin has 0.77344 ounces, or nearly an ounce, of pure silver. They are 38.1 millimeters in diameter and weigh 26.73 grams, which means Liberty Seated dollars are the same size as Morgan and Peace silver dollars.