1853 Seated Liberty Silver Dollar

1853 Liberty Seated dollars are considerably scarce 19th-century type silver coins that are commonly collected by those who enjoy old United States coinage. Liberty Seated silver dollars contain nearly a full ounce of silver, but they are far more important as numismatically significant coins than merely as silver bullion coins to be bought only for their intrinsic value. Liberty Seated dollars were designed by United States Mint Chief Engraver Christian Gobrecht.

Seated Liberty silver dollars were produced from 1840 through 1873 and issued by the Philadelphia, New Orleans, Carson City, and San Francisco Mints. In 1849, silver dollars were minted only in Philadelphia to the tune of 62,600 pieces. They are worth $300 in Very Good-8 to more than $2,600 in uncirculated grades. Proof specimens are worth about $32,000 and up. Liberty Seated silver dollars are very difficult to find in original, undamaged condition and thus particularly pristine specimens are worth more in their respective grade than pieces that show some signs of cleaning, have damage, or are otherwise altered.

Liberty Seated silver dollars circulated widely for the first several years of their production, but as silver bullion prices rose, these coins were more often encountered in foreign trade than in mainstream circulation. 1853 Liberty Seated dollars have a composition consisting of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weigh 26.73 grams, and contain 0.77344 ounces of pure silver. They measure 38.1 millimeters in diameter, which is the standard width of all large-size U.S. silver dollars made since the 1840s, including the ever-popular Morgan and Peace silver dollars.