Lot 402
1853-O Liberty Seated Half Dime. Arrows. PCGS graded MS-64. Frosty luster and well struck for this date. Bluish gray toning on both sides, mostly at the peripheries. PCGS notes 9 graded this high, with 11 graded higher for this date (best MS-66).
Blame it on California. Yes, by 1853 the virtual flood of gold pouring into New York and other cities from the California gold rush, had driven down the price of gold, which was priced in dollars. As a result, the price of silver, reckoned in gold dollars, actually increased by comparison. In short order, the value of silver coins exceeded face value, and massive meltings occured. No one quite understood what to do about the complete lack of silver coins in circulation (aside from the debased and low value 3 cent silver pieces, which contained far less than 3 cents in silver value). At last, Mint Director George Eckert proposed reducing the silver content of each dollar worth of coins from 412.5 grains to 384 grains, a bewildered Congress agreed, and President Millard Fillmore signed into law the authorization on February 21, 1853. Eckert had no time to prepare new designs, yet it was absolutely essential to distinguish the reduced weight coins from the prior heavier silver coins. Eckert hatched a plan to put arrows on each side of the date, and ordered Longacre to prepare dies as quickly as possible for half dimes through half dollars. Inexplicably, the silver dollar was not included in the silver weight reduction (Breen).
Estimated Value $1,100 - 1,300.
From the Benson collection and purchased from J. G. Macallister in a large group of half dimes on November 7, 1944 for $80.00.
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| Realized $2,530 |
