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A Seated Liberty Grading Set - or is it a Type Set?

Category:  Series Sets
Owner:  Harlan#2
Last Modified:  2/16/2024
Set Description
My fascination with circulated Seated Liberty coinage began about 16 years ago, when I purchased some well-circulated raw halves. They graded out with no problems, and I loved the look. I've been collecting Seated coins by type and by grade ever since. Here I've created for you a Grading Set encompassing a) all circulated grades 1-58, b) an UNC Shipwreck Effect 1861-O Seated Half, c) two examples of Mint State coins, and d) one example of a Proof coin. Along the way I showcase different types and varieties, and include at least one CAC example for each denomination and grade level (except for Shipwreck Effect). The result is a 140-coin Grading Set/Type Set that has been lots of fun to build. I'm not a trained grader so organizing my collection this way has given me a better feel for what goes into each grade. Indeed, just taking all these photographs has been a lesson unto itself. If you enjoy this tour through the world of Seated Liberty coinage even half as much I enjoyed creating this set, this will be a fun trip for you!

Set Goals
I have achieved my primary goal, which is to build a Type Set organized by grade that includes the following: a) all circulated grades 1-58, b) one example of an UNC Shipwreck Effect Coin, c) one example of a Mint State coin, d) one example of a Proof coin, and e) at least one CAC coin at every grade level. My focus now is on upgrading this set over time as I acquire additional varieties and CAC specimens.

Slot Name
Origin/Country
Item Description
Full Grade
Owner Comments
Pics
View Coin Poor 1: 1853 Arrows & Rays 25C United States Silver 25C 1853 ARROWS & RAYS PCGS PR 1 CAC
View Coin Fair 2, #1: 1854-O 25C, with Arrows United States Silver 25C 1854 O ARROWS HUGE O PCGS FA 2 FS-501, Huge O. CAC
View Coin Fair 2, #2: 1875-S 50C United States Silver 50C 1875 S WB-105 PCGS FA 2 Obverse more colorful than I am able to pick up.
View Coin About Good 3: 1891-O 25C United States Silver 25C 1891 O PCGS AG 3 CAC. A hard-to-find coin: PCGS Coinfacts indicate roughly 500 survivors & R6 in all grades.
View Coin Good 4, #1: 1873-CC 50C, no Arrows United States Silver 50C 1873 CC NO ARROWS PCGS G 4
View Coin Good 4, #2: 1873-CC 50C, with Arrows United States Silver 50C 1873 CC ARROWS PCGS G 4 I'm going to need to polish up this holder a bit, with my trusty Meguiar's, and take some new photos.
View Coin Good 4, #3: 1853 O over Horizontal O Arrows & Rays 25C United States Silver 25C 1853 O/HOR O ARR & RAYS FS-501 PCGS G 4 CAC.
View Coin Good 6, #1: 1840 (O) 50C United States Silver 50C 1840 (O) MED LETTERS NGC G 6 Reverse of 1838
View Coin Good 6, #2: 1864-S 50C United States Silver 50C 1864 S Large S PCGS G 6 WB-1, WB-101. CAC
View Coin Good 6, #3: 1866-S With Motto 50C United States Silver 50C 1866 S MOTTO PCGS G 6
View Coin Good 6, #4: 1866-S No Motto 50C United States Silver 50C 1866 S NO MOTTO NGC G 6 WB-1, R-4. Key diagnostic: bold die clash mark in reverse shield, lower right.

See https://www.pcgs.com/coinfacts/coin/1866-s-50c-wb-1-no-motto-small-thin/572170 for closeup of reverse shield.
View Coin Good 6, #5: 1858-S No Motto 25C United States Silver 25C 1858 S No Motto PCGS G 6 CAC: Only 19 approved 1858-S quarters in all grades.

Tough coin: PCGS currently estimates only 175 survivors in all grades (out of a mintage of 121,000), and rates this coin as R7.2.

View Coin Good 6, #6: 1853 Arrows 10C United States Silver 10C 1853 ARROWS PCGS G 6 CAC. For a heavily circulated coin, this example hasn't had a hard life. It's remarkably free of abrasions and dings. Looks to me like this coin spent a lot of time in people's pockets and/or in drawers.
View Coin VG8, #1: 1858 25C United States Silver 25C 1858 No Motto NGC VG 8 CAC
View Coin VG8, #2: 1875-S 20C United States Silver 20C 1875 S PCGS VG 8 CAC
View Coin VG8, #3: 1877 10C, F-105 Type 2 Reverse United States Silver 10C 1877 MPD TYPE 2 REV TOP-100 F-105 PCGS VG 8 CAC
View Coin VG10, #1: 1870-S 50C United States Silver 50C 1870 S PCGS VG 10 A rarity, though not priced as such. PCGS estimates that only 400 have survived in all grades, out of the official mintage of roughly 1 million. R6!
View Coin VG10, #2: 1884 50C United States Silver 50C 1884 NGC VG 10 CAC, R5: Mintage of only 4,400, and PCGS estimates roughly 1,000 have survived in all grades.

View Coin VG10, #3: 1868-S 25C United States Silver 25C 1868 S Briggs 1-A PCGS VG 10 CAC. A challenging date: 96,000 minted, but only 350 survivors in all grades. R6.3 (PCGS Coinfacts)
View Coin VG10, #4: 1876 With Motto 25C United States Silver 25C 1876 PCGS VG 10 This coin caught my eye on Ebay. The photos in the listing weren't great but I found myself going back to them again and again. Common date; uncommon example.

What a great look! Dark charcoal-gray fields, with lighter devices. My photos can't do this coin justice, and show it to be more light and brown than it is in hand. The Reverse, to me, is solid for the grade. The Obverse has a nice cameo look. I also note the die crack on the Reverse. Going counterclockwise, it runs along the rim, just above the dentils, from the tip of the U (United) all the way through the denomination and around to the I (America). Very cool. You can see a lot, but not quite all, of the crack in my photo.

Purchased this coin in its holder, and then submitted it to CAC. It passed: currently the only VG10 example with the Green Bean.
View Coin VG10, #5: 1845-O 10C United States Silver 10C 1845 O PCGS VG 10 CAC: only 38 examples approved in all grades.

Tough coin: PCGS currently estimates 300 survivors in all grades (out of a mintage of 230,000),and rates this coin as R6.4.
View Coin F12, #1: 1861-O 50C, CSA Obverse United States Silver 50C 1861 O CSA OBVERSE DIE CRACK PCGS F 12 WB-102.
View Coin F12, #2: 1861 Type 2/Type 1 25C United States Silver 25C 1861 Type 2/Type 1 PCGS F 12 CAC.

This is a very nice F12, for sure. It has an even brown patina, with lighter central devices. Tilting under light reveals gold accents on the devices and shades of blue-violet in the fields. I love the look but, unfortunately, my camera can't do it justice.

But what makes this coin really interesting is that it's an example of a very rare die pairing. It combines the new Type 2 obverse introduced in 1859 with the old Type 1 reverse that began to be phased out in 1859. The Type 2 obverse adds shield lines above the E in Liberty, and Lady Liberty gets a redesigned head, face, and hair. On the Type 1 reverse the eagle's eye is concave and the last A in America sits lower than the other letters in the legend.

Briggs noted in 1991 that this die pairing is rare. More recently, Greg Johnson (a noted Seated Quarter specialist) refers to this pairing as "a very rare variety of a very common date." 1861 saw the last Philadelphia quarters minted with the old Type 1 reverse, and the 1861 Type 2/Type 1 quarter is indeed tough to find. I felt fortunate to purchase a PCGS AG3 example a few years ago. When an F12 CAC example of this coin appeared in a recent GFRC auction, attributed as such by Gerry Fortin and his auction cataloguer, I just had to have it!


View Coin F12, #3: 1888 With Motto 25C United States Silver 25C 1888 With Motto PCGS F 12 CAC. Scarce coin: mintage of only 10,001.
View Coin F12, #4: 1838 "Partial Drapery" 10C United States 10C 1838 PARTIAL DRAPERY TOP-100 F-108a RPD & REVERSE CLASHED PCGS F 12 A very nice F12. Obverse & Reverse match up well, with a consistent light gray patina. Minimal marks & dings. Looks to me like this coin has experienced nothing but honest wear.

On the Obverse the digits 18 are repunched. There's also a die clash in between Liberty's left elbow and left thigh, which makes it look as if Liberty has just a bit of drapery hanging from her elbow. On the Reverse Gerry Fortin states at his website that "a bold die clash is easily seen through the left side of the right wreath and through DIM(E)." In this example it shows nicely. There's additional clashing in the right wreath just below the ME in Dime.
View Coin F15, #1: 1853/4 Arrows & Rays 25C United States Silver 25C 1853 ARROWS & RAYS 1853/4 FS-1301 PCGS F 15 CAC. A key diagnostic is the doubled base of the arrow on the right (as you face the coin), which shows clearly in this photo.
View Coin F15, #2: 1855-O 25C, with Arrows United States Silver 25C 1855 O ARROWS Briggs 1-B PCGS F 15 Tough coin. Only 176,000 minted, lowest of the 1853-1855 Arrows Quarters. PCGS estimates only 150 survivors in all grades, with a numismatic rarity rating of 7.5.

On this coin, the mintmark on the Reverse was subjected to heavy polishing, resulting in what is known as the "Broken O Reverse."
View Coin F15, #3: 1873-S Arrows 25C United States Silver 25C 1873 S ARROWS PCGS F 15 CAC. Mintage of 156,000. Among the 73-74 arrows coins, only the 73CC has a lower mintage.
View Coin F15, #4: 1880 With Motto 25C United States Silver 25C 1880 With Motto PCGS F 15
View Coin F15, #5: 1838-O No Stars 10C United States Silver 10C 1838 O No Stars PCGS F 15 CAC. OGH. A nice example of the first coin struck at the New Orleans Mint.
View Coin VF20, #1: 1871 $1 With Motto United States Silver $1 1871 With Motto NGC VF 20 Purchased raw.
View Coin VF20, #2: 1840-O 25C, with Drapery United States Silver 25C 1840 O DRAPERY PCGS VF 20 CAC
View Coin VF20, #3: 1855-S Arrows 25C United States Silver 25C 1855 S ARROWS PCGS VF 20 Tough issue!
View Coin VF20, #4: 1875-CC 20C United States Silver 20C 1875 CC PCGS VF 20
View Coin VF20, #5: 1842-O 10C United States Silver 10C 1842 O SMALL O F-104 NGC VF 20 CAC. I purchased this coin when it resided in an ANACS OWH. Finally got around to crossing it over to NGC.
View Coin VF20, #7: 1874 Arrows 10C United States Silver 10C 1874 ARROWS PCGS VF 20 CAC, F-112.
View Coin VF20, #6: 1853 No Arrows 10C United States Silver 10C 1853 NO ARROWS NGC VF 20
View Coin VF20, #8: 1858/1858 H10C United States Silver H10C 1858/1858 FS-301 NGC VF 20 Identified on label as 1858/1858 FS-301.
View Coin VF25, #1: 1841 $1 No Motto United States Silver $1 1841 No Motto NGC VF 25 Purchased raw.
View Coin VF25, #2: 1870 50C United States Silver 50C 1870 PCGS VF 25 This coin has beautiful toning, which immediately grabbed my attention. But I can't do the coin justice in my photos. So, I include some of the description provided by the previous owner: "[This example has] pretty old album paper toning. Obverse is a combination of aquamarine center that shifts to gold at the periphery. Reverse has [a] classic rose center that is well framed by a ring of sky blue [around the rim]."
View Coin VF25, #3: 1838 No Drapery 25C United States Silver 25C 1838 SEATED No Drapery, Briggs 1-A PCGS VF 25 CAC
View Coin VF25, #4: 1844-O 25C United States Silver 25C 1844 O PCGS VF 25 CAC
View Coin VF25, #5: 1855 Arrows 25C United States Silver 25C 1855 ARROWS NGC VF 25
View Coin VF25, #6: 1877-CC 25C United States Silver 25C 1877 CC Briggs 1-A PCGS VF 25 CAC. An incredible VF25. The 77 date digits appear to be repunched: an FS-301? (Informal attribution by Gerry Fortin.)
View Coin VF25, #7: 1847 10C, Date Overlaps Base United States Silver 10C 1847 TOP-100 F-101 DATE OVERLAPS BASE NGC VF 25 CAC. Purchased raw. This coin grabbed me when I first saw it, and wouldn't let me go. Beautiful, and balanced. The photos are good, but don't do justice to the coin's "look."
View Coin VF25, #8: 1856 Large Date 10C United States Silver 10C 1856 LARGE DATE F-104 PCGS VF 25 One word that comes to my mind every time I view this coin is "consistent." Definitely worth its Green Bean.

The Large Date variety is roughly 5 times scarcer than its Small Date cousin. With only 200 estimated survivors, PCGS rates it as R7.
View Coin VF25, #9: 1869 10C, Long Flag 1 United States Silver 10C 1869 LONG FLAG F-105a PCGS VF 25 Attribution by Gerry Fortin.

This is a tough date, with two main varieties: Short Flag 1 & Long Flag 1. The Long Flag variety is the more available of the two.

The NGC Census, as of October 2023, includes only 33 Short Flag and Long Flag examples. PCGS currently estimates there are roughly 250 total survivors across all grades.
View Coin VF25: #10: 1877 10C, F-105 Type 2 Reverse United States Silver 10C 1877 MPD TYPE 2 REV TOP-100 F-105 PCGS VF 25 CAC
View Coin VF25, #11: 1837 SMall Date H10C United States Silver H10C 1837 SEATED NGC VF 25 Small Date.
View Coin VF25, #12: 1858 H10C, Inverted Date United States Silver H10C 1858/INVERT DATE FS-302 PCGS VF 25 CAC. Identified on label as "Inverted Date." FS-302

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