By Charles Morgan and Hubert Walker for CoinWeek Notes …..
The American Civil War unleashed a national trauma that is hard to contextualize, even in these highly partisan times. In a country of 30 million people, more than 600,000 were killed in four years of fighting. Just as the causes of slavery and its abolition were promoted from the pulpit, so, too, were messages of faith, forgiveness, and healing. In 1864, the Treasury Department, acting on a letter from a Pennsylvania pastor, placed the motto “In God We Trust” on the newly-issued Two-Cent Piece.
The motto’s placement on the coin so moved Congress that it put forward the Act of March 3, 1865, placing the motto on the nation’s silver and gold coinage. For the Liberty Seated Half Dollar, both No Motto and With Motto versions were struck in 1866. That year, the San Francisco Mint struck 60,000 No Motto halves before striking 994,000 With Motto Half Dollars. The Philadelphia Mint struck 744,900 With Motto halves along with one example without. The origin of the 1866 Liberty Seated No Motto Half Dollar is debated; is it a transitional pattern, a clandestine fantasy piece, or a genuine issue?
Despite mintages not significantly different from the No Motto pieces, Mint State examples from 1866 to 1873 are considered somewhat scarcer than the earlier pieces (though prices do not always reflect this difference). This reason for the scarcity is attributed to the Mint Act of February 12, 1873, which not only mandated a minor increase in the weight of the half dollar to 12.5 grams (still within the tolerance of deviation for the 12.44-gram standard) but also called for the melting of obsolete issues. Many unsold Proofs and undistributed business strike half dollars were melted, more than likely the reason for some of the notable rarities of the period. For example, records indicate that 5,000 1873-S half dollars were minted but none are known today. It is assumed that all were melted.
Other oddities in the Liberty Seated Half Dollar series occurred in the No Motto period. A few silver Proof sets, containing the quarter, half dollar, and dollar, were produced with the 1865 date but otherwise display the adopted 1866 Motto designs. There are also 1863 and 1864 dated Proof coins with the motto. Die study indicates these coins may have been produced between 1866 and 1868, likely for the benefit of Mint Director Henry Linderman and pattern collector Robert Coulton Davis.
The slightly increased weight in 1873 was authorized so that the coins had an exact metric weight (12.5 grams instead of 12.44 grams), and an arrow was once again added to each side of the date for half dollars struck in 1873 and 1874 (recalling the arrows used to denote a reduction of weight from 1853 through 1855). The redux arrows were removed in 1875, and the design remained unchanged until the series concluded with the 1891 issue.
How Much Are With Motto Liberty Seated Half Dollars Worth?
Several thousand Liberty Seated Motto With Drapery business strike half dollars have been certified, though there are fewer listings from 1866 through 1873. Prices are moderate for most issues up to MS63, but examples are expensive as near-Gem and finer.
Higher priced coins are 1870-CC, 1871-CC, 1873 No Arrows Open 3, 1873-CC No Arrows, 1873-CC Arrows, 1874-CC, 1877/6, 1878-CC, and 1878-S. The 1878-S is a classic rarity, extremely expensive at all grades, particularly as Mint State and finer.
Most Proof examples are moderately priced through PR63, and expensive as Gem or finer. The 1873 and 1874 With Arrows are about twice as expensive per grade as No Arrows proofs. Proof production Cameo and Deep Cameo/Ultra Cameo examples have been certified for most dates, and have slight premiums over non-cameo pieces (though higher as Gem and finer).
What Does “With Drapery” Mean?
The first Liberty Seated Half Dollars produced by the Mint did not have an extra fold of drapery hanging forward from Liberty’s left elbow, and Liberty was seated on a larger rock. The With Drapery Liberty Seated Half Dollar, introduced in 1839, has extra drapery and Liberty rests on a draped chair.
In-Depth Date Analysis by CoinWeek Notes
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Writing for CoinWeek, U.S. coin expert Greg Reynolds discusses the series as a whole in his Classic U.S. Coins for Less Than $500 Each column and one of the better examples of the rare 1878-S half dollar when he was able to examine the coin personally in 2013.
Counterfeit Detection
CoinWeek contributor Jack Young and the “Dark Side Group” of collectors, dealers, and numismatists investigate ads for counterfeit Liberty Seated Half Dollars that Facebook has allowed to proliferate.
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Liberty Seated Half Dollar, Motto With Drapery Design
Obverse:
The obverse shows Liberty in flowing robes seated on a rock, head turned back to her right. Tied with a barely discernible band, long locks of curly hair cascade down her back and across the shoulder. Her left arm is bent, holding a pole topped by a Liberty cap, while the extended right arm supports a Union shield leaning against the rock. Across the shield is a curved banner with the word LIBERTY. Thirteen six-pointed stars form a circle around the top two-thirds of the coin inside a denticulated rim: seven stars to the left, five to the right, and one between Liberty’s head and the Liberty cap. The date is centered at the bottom, with one arrow on each side signifying the weight change.
Reverse:
The reverse has a centered left-facing eagle, with extended but partly folded wings. The eagle clutches an olive branch in the dexter claw (viewer’s left) and three arrows in the sinister (viewer’s right), though fletching is shown for only two of the three arrowheads. A shield is placed over the eagle’s chest. The legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA forms a concentric arc to the inside of the top two-thirds of the denticulated rim, with the denomination HALF DOL. at the bottom visually completing the circle. Above the eagle, below TED STATES OF A, is a flowing banner with the motto IN GOD WE TRUST. Liberty Seated Motto Half Dollars were minted at Philadelphia (all years), San Francisco (1866-1878), and Carson City (1870-1878); CC and S mintmarks appear on the reverse, below the eagle and above the denomination.
Edge:
The edge of the Liberty Seated With Motto and Drapery Half Dollar is reeded.
Varieties
Many With Motto Liberty Seated Half Dollar varieties are known, mostly repunched dates and minor die variations. None are listed in the Red Book. Other than the two-year Arrows issues, the major variety listed in census/population reports is the 1873 Open 3 and Close 3 for business strikes, and Close 3 for all Proofs. Open and Close (sometimes listed as “Closed”) refer to the amount of space between the knob ends of the numeral “3”, changed because of concerns that the Close version would be mistaken for an “8”.
Coin Specifications
| Liberty Seated Half Dollar, Motto With Drapery | |
| Years of Issue: | 1866-91 |
| Mintage (Circulation): | High: 8,418,000 (1876); Low: 4,400 (1882) |
| Mintage (Proof): | High: 1,355 (1880); Low: 510 (1877) |
| Alloy: | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight: | ±12.44 g; 12.5 g from the latter part of 1873 forward |
| Diameter: | ±30.60 mm |
| Edge: | Reeded |
| OBV Designer: | Christian Gobrecht, from a Thomas Sully drawing | modified by Robert Ball Hughes and James B. Longacre |
| REV Designer: | Christian Gobrecht |
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Additional References
Bowers, Q. David. The Experts Guide to Collecting & Investing in Rare Coins. Whitman Publishing.
–. A Guide Book of United States Type Coins. Whitman Publishing.
Breen, Walter. Walter Breen’s Encyclopedia of U.S. Coins. Doubleday.
Guth, Ron, and Jeff Garrett. United States Coinage: A Study by Type. Whitman Publishing.
Taxay, Don. The U.S. Mint and Coinage. Arco Publishing.
Wiley, Randy, and Bill Bugert. The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars. DLRC Press.
Yeoman, R.S., and Jeff Garrett (editor). The Official Red Book: A Guide Book of United States Coins. Whitman Publishing.
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