1853 Liberty Seated Quarter, Arrows and Rays : A Collector’s Guide

By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
 

The glut of gold coming from California unbalanced the silver-to-gold ratio, resulting in higher silver prices relative to gold. This resulted in a situation where speculators profited by converting large amounts of circulating silver coins to bullion and precious metal denominations lower than a dollar, all of which disappeared from circulation. Congress answered this financial crisis by passing the Act of February 21, 1853, which prescribed a slight weight reduction for the nation’s subsidiary silver coinage. The weight of the Liberty Seated Silver Dollar, which was struck primarily for export, remained unchanged. The Act reduced the weight of the Liberty Seated Quarter from 103.125 grains (6.6 grams) to 96.000 grains (6.22 grams).

The change in tenor was marked by arrows on either side of the date and rays on the reverse.

Before the change was made, the Philadelphia Mint struck 44,200 1853 Liberty Seated Quarters at the old weight standard. These coins resemble the quarters struck in the preceding years and survive at a rate of approximately 1/28th that of the 1853 Liberty Seated Quarters With Arrows and Rays. Collectors should be thankful for this survival rate, as the Arrows and Rays quarter mintage outnumbers the old style by a 344:1 ratio.

With a mintage of 15,210,020, the Philadelphia 1853 Liberty Seated Quarter With Arrows and Rays issue is the obvious choice for type collectors. The New Orleans Mint, the only branch mint producing quarters at the time, struck 1,332,000.

Philadelphia deployed more than 100 obverse and reverse dies to strike reduced weight 1853 quarters. Minor variations may be of limited interest to specialists. The relatively plentiful 1853/4 Liberty Seated Quarter is an affordable Guide Book variety.

* * *

Market Data and Noteworthy Specimens

Top Population: PCGS MS67 (3, 8/2024), NGC MS67 (4, 8/2024), and CAC MS67 (1, 8/2024).

• PCGS MS67 #44161267: “The Bob R. Simpson Collection, Part VII” Heritage Auctions, January 13, 2022, Lot 3756 – $78,000. Dark blue and green toning along the periphery with russet and gold centers.
• PCGS MS67 CAC #38634048: “The D. Brent Pogue Collection, Part VII,” March 20, 2020, Lot 7059 – $72,000. Attractive multi-colored toning on both sides.
• NGC MS67 #3607489-001: Heritage Auctions, September 27, 2013, Lot 6354 – $67,562.50. Brilliant.
• PCGS MS67 CAC #06675732: Heritage Auctions, April 29, 2010, Lot 2083 – $54,625. Brilliant.
• NGC MS67 #1633108-001: Heritage Auctions, January 5, 2006, Lot 3155 – $48,875; “The Southwest Collection,” Heritage Auctions, February 14 2008, Lot 357 – $80,500; “The Joseph C. Thomas Collection, Part Two,” Heritage Auctions, May 28, 2009, Lot 619 – $48,875. Brilliant.
• NGC MS67 #2032236-001: Heritage Auctions, August 19, 2004, Lot 5935 – $48,300; “The Five Point Collection,” Heritage Auctions, January 7, 2010, Lot 2511 – $46,000. Brilliant.

1853/4: Liberty Seated Quarter Dollar, Arrows and Rays

Briggs 1-A. FS-301. Discovered by Walter Breen in 1975, while he was cataloging the David L. Hirt Collection for Pine Tree Auctions.

Clear underdate under 3. What is not clear is whether the underdate was a 4 or a 1. Tradition holds that it is a 4, making this the only quarter variety to have underdate denoting a date later than the overdate. Repunched 85 apparent on examples in early die state and sufficient states of preservation.

Top Population: PCGS MS65 (1, 8/2024), NGC MS65 (1, 8/2024), and CAC MS65 (1, 8/2024).

• NGC MS65 #4266983-001: Heritage Auctions, September 17, 2015, Lot 3862 – $29,375; Heritage Auctions, August 2, 2017, Lot 3943 – $23,500.
• PCGS MS65 CAC #06676732: Heritage Auctions, April 29, 2010, Lot 2083 – $54,625. Brown streaks across the obverse. Brown spot below star 3.
• PCGS MS64 CAC #3204667: Stack’s Bowers, November 2014, Lot 10023 – $9,987.50.
• PCGS MS64 CAC #50128258: “The Frog Run Collection,” American Numismatic Rarities, November 30, 2004, Lot 1157 – $8,050; Heritage Auctions, July 28, 2005, Lot 10177 – $12,650; “The Eugene H. Gardner Collection,” Heritage Auctions, June 23, 2014, Lot 30372 – $12,925.
• PCGS MS64 #33520954: “Auction ’89,” Superior, July 1989, Lot 577. As PCGS MS64 #11829958. “The Nevada Collection of Seated Quarters,” Heritage Auctions, September 18, 2008, Lot 1521 – $12,650; Heritage Auctions, January 7, 2016, Lot 5332 – $7,050. As PCGS MS64 #33520954. Heritage Auctions, August 10, 2016, Lot 3742 – $5,875; Heritage Auctions, June 8, 2017, Lot 3617 – $5,052.50. Olive and russet toning. slightly diagonal streak to the right of star 2 to wrist. Dark blots at the left of the figure and around left arrow.

* * *

Liberty Seated Quarter, Arrows and Rays Design

Obverse:

A full-length representation of Liberty in long, flowing robes sits on a rock, her head turned back to her right. Liberty’s left arm is bent and holds a pole topped by a Liberty cap. The right arm extends down at her side, hand supporting a Union shield with a curved banner displaying the word LIBERTY. The date is centered at the bottom, flanked on each side by a short arrowhead. Inside denticles along the raised rim, 13 six-pointed stars form a partial circle: seven to the left of Liberty, one between Liberty’s head and the Liberty cap, and five to the right of the cap.

Reverse:

The reverse features a centered left-facing eagle with extended but partly folded wings. The eagle clutches three arrows in its left claw and an olive branch in its right. A Union shield is placed over the chest, and many radiating lines extend from behind the eagle on all sides nearly to the surrounding legends. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA forms a concentric arc around the top two-thirds of the surface, inside the denticles circling the rim but beyond the ends of the rays. The denomination QUAR. DOL. is at the bottom, visually completing the circle of text.

Edge:

The edge of the Arrows and Rays 1853 Liberty Seated Quarter is reeded.

Coin Specifications

* * *