Lot 755
1853. Arrows. NGC graded MS-67. Fully white. Aesthetically appealing, a handsome full strike bristling with bright mint bloom and without toning. Nicely struck, and unlike those which have the faintest touch of weakness at the centers, this exemplary coin is bold, with perhaps only the lower obverse rim denticles not quite up to being sharp.
The effects of the California Gold Rush on the United States' circulating silver coinage were immediate and unprecedented. With the price of silver reckoned in gold rising sharply on the world market, coins such as the Seated Half Dime were soon worth more as bullion than as a circulating medium of exchange. Bullion dealers and other speculators were quick to capitalize on this situation, hoarding and exporting newly minted silver coins at a profit for themselves. This was a loss for the federal government, unfortunately. By 1853, the situation had become acute. Congress, that dilatory body, was forced to act to lower the weight of most silver coins to discourage hoarding and keep the pieces in circulation. The Mint Act of February 21, 1853, was the vehicle of Congress' intervention, and it reduced the weight of the Half Dime from 1.34 grams to 1.24 grams. In the process it created our first subsidiary coinage in silver. Only the Silver Dollar was struck in Standard weight thereafter. In order to distinguish coins struck to this new standard from their old-tenor counterparts, the Mint supplied arrows to the obverse field before and after the date. Three years were deemed sufficient to familiarize the public with the new weight standard, and the arrows were duly dropped in 1856.
Today, survivors of the short-lived 1853 Seated Half Dime with Arrows series are eagerly sought at all levels of preservation by Type collectors. Both the Philadelphia and New Orleans Mints were active in the production of this type each year from 1853-55. Pop 15; 8 finer in 67 Star.
Estimated Value $8,500 - 9,000.
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