The is a
Silver Dollar coin issued by the
United States government from
1840 to
1873 . The coin is named for the obverse design which was uniform and matched the
Half Dime ,
Dime ,
Twenty-cent Piece ,
Quarter , and
Half Dollar . Its obverse and reverse were both designed by
Christian Gobrecht .
- Obverse design: Lady Liberty seated holding the Union Shield
- Reverse design: A Bald Eagle holding arrows and an olive branch with the Union Shield on its chest
- Edge: reeded
- Weight: 26.73 g
- Diameter: 38.1 mm
- Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper
- Silver Content: 0.77344 troy oz (24.057 g)
Seated Liberty Dollars were introduced in 1840 and were minted in larger quantities than the sparsely minted
Gobrecht Dollar that preceded it. The dollars were used in general circulation until 1853. In 1853, the value of the silver was more than the face value of the coin. The coin was continued to be minted mainly as a trade coin to be used in the orient. This ended in 1870 when the price of silver lowered allowing the dollars to be placed back in normal circulation.
Mintmarks appear underneath the eagle's talons on the reverse. Mintmarks include:
Of this series, the most valuable coin by far is the 1870-S.
United States Seated Liberty Coinage
- Yeoman, R.S. ''A Guide Book of United States Coins'' Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2004
- Edler, Joel and Harper, Dave ''U.S. Coin Digest'' Iola: Krause Publications, 2004
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Trade Dollar Coin Of The United States (1853-1873)
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