Seated Dollars (1840–1873)

Liberty Seated dollars were in production from 1840 through 1873 and were designed by Christian Gobrecht. The Liberty Seated dollar was preceded by a series of circulation issues and patterns struck from 1836 through 1839 and collectively referred to as Gobrecht dollars. They bear a similar Liberty Seated obverse design as seen on the regular-issue Liberty Seated dollars that were struck beginning in 1840.

The major sub-varieties in the Liberty Seated dollar series are:

• Variety 1: No Motto Above Eagle (1840-1865)
• Variety 2: With Motto Above Eagle (1866-1873)

Both types are about equally scarce on the whole. However, the Liberty Seated dollar series does have a number of particularly scarce key and semi-key dates. These include the 1851 Original High Date, 1852 Original, 1858, 1870-S, 1872-CC, and 1873-CC. There's a reported mintage of 700 for the 1873-S, though the coin is unknown in any collection.

Liberty Seated dollars can be challenging to find with original, uncleaned surfaces, and they are especially difficult to locate with nice surfaces in the higher grades. Excellent pieces with especially nice strike and color tend to trade for decent premiums.