1879 Seated Liberty Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 14,000 made
- Mintage
- 14,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 2.5 g
- Diameter
- 17.9 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1879 Seated Liberty Dime worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1879 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
- Certification by PCGS or NGC, which buyers expect for scarce dates
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1879 Seated Liberty Dime rare?
- Yes. Only 14,000 were made, 8th lowest of the 116 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1879 Seated Liberty Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0723 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1879 Seated Liberty Dime?
- On the reverse, below the bow of the wreath or inside the wreath, depending on the year. Philadelphia dimes have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1879 are scarcer?
- None. Within five years either side, no Philadelphia issue had a smaller mintage than the 1879.
- How many 1879 Seated Liberty Dime coins were made?
- 14,000.
What to check on your 1879
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1879 Seated Liberty Dime Proof (1,100 made) is the one to compare with.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. LIBERTY on the shield is the key: a full, readable LIBERTY marks a coin in Fine or better. Then check Liberty's head and knee.
Never clean it. Collectors pay strong premiums for original surfaces and natural toning on a date like this. A cleaned coin can lose half its value or more. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1879
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1879. Only 14,000 were made, against 1.7 million the year before. That drop is why the 1879 is the one people look for. The next year it made 36,000 (1880).
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1879 you find is from Philadelphia. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1863 (14,000) and the 1873-CC (12,400).
Philadelphia struck the Seated Liberty Dime in 59 issues between 1837 and 1891. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1867 (6,000). Within the 1870s it's 3rd smallest of 29, between the 1873-CC (12,400) and the 1873-CC (With Arrows) (18,791).
More on the 1879
Philadelphia struck only 14,000 business strike dimes in 1879, the first of three very low mintages. After the huge coinages of 1875 to 1877, the country had more dimes than it needed. Philadelphia also made 1,100 proofs and was the only mint striking dimes that year.
Collectors noticed the low number and saved many coins in uncirculated condition, so the 1879 is found more often in high grade than its mintage suggests. Proofs were made in large numbers that year. If your 1879 has mirror fields, compare it with certified examples before deciding which it is. Check the 9 for alteration. The 1880 and 1881, with 36,000 and 24,000 struck, complete the trio. Philadelphia had struck 1,677,200 dimes in 1878, so the 1879 total was less than one percent of the year before. Even a worn 1879 carries a collector premium, since the low mintage is well known.
Philadelphia alone and tiny runs (1879 to 1883)
After the huge coinages of 1875 to 1877, the country had more dimes than commerce needed. The Mint was also busy striking Morgan silver dollars under the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, which required the Treasury to buy silver every month and coin it into dollars. Philadelphia was the only mint making dimes from 1879 to 1883. It struck just 14,000 in 1879, 36,000 in 1880 and 24,000 in 1881. Those three dates are keys of the late series.
Collectors and dealers noticed the low numbers at the time and saved many of the coins. As a result, these dates are found in uncirculated condition more often than you might expect. Proof mintages were high for the period, with 1,100 in 1879 and 1,355 in 1880, the largest proof run of any Seated dime. With so many proofs made against so few business strikes, attribution takes care.
Demand returned in 1882, when Philadelphia struck 3,910,000. Output rose to 7,674,673 in 1883. No San Francisco dimes were struck from 1878 to 1883 and Carson City had stopped making dimes altogether. Those dates are common. For an 1879, 1880 or 1881, check the date for alteration and the surfaces for signs of a proof, such as deep mirrors and sharp rims. Then compare the luster with a business strike before deciding what you have.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1879
The New Orleans Mint reopened for coinage, striking Morgan dollars. Many Morgan dollars from this period sat in Treasury vaults for decades.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock, her right hand resting on a shield crossed by a scroll reading LIBERTY. Her left hand holds a pole topped by a liberty cap and the date is below. The 1837 and 1838-O coins have nothing else on the obverse. From 1838 to 1860 thirteen stars surround her and from 1860 the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA take their place. Drapery hangs from her left elbow on coins from late 1840 on. Arrows flank the date on most dimes of 1853 to 1855 and of 1873 to 1874. The reverse shows ONE DIME inside a laurel wreath ringed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA until 1860. After that a larger cereal wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves surrounds the words. Branch mint marks are on the reverse near the bow.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Dime (1837–1891) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1879 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 14,000 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 2.5 grams |
| Diameter | 17.9 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0723 troy oz (2.250 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1879 Seated Liberty Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1879 Seated Liberty Dime | 14,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0723 oz |
| 1879 Seated Liberty Dime Proof | 1,100 | Proof | 0.0723 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.