1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 340,000 made
- Mintage
- 340,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 1.24 g
- Diameter
- 15.5 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 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime worth?
Collectors pay a real premium for this date, worn or not, because far fewer were made than usual. Uncirculated pieces go much higher.
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 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime rare?
- Yes. Only 340,000 were made, 26th lowest of the 70 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0359 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime?
- On the reverse, below the bow of the wreath or inside the wreath, depending on the year. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1859 are scarcer?
- The 1863 at 18,000, the 1864 at 48,000. So the 1859 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime coins were made?
- 340,000.
What to check on your 1859
- 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 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof (800 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 wears first; a full LIBERTY marks Fine or better. These tiny coins are often bent, cleaned or holed.
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 1859
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1859. Only 340,000 were made, against 3.5 million the year before. That drop is why the 1859 is the one people look for. The next year it made 798,000 (1860).
1859-O came to 560,000, so neither mint's 1859 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1842-O (350,000) and the 1873-S (324,000).
Philadelphia struck the Seated Liberty Half Dime in 39 issues between 1837 and 1873. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1867 (8,000). Within the 1850s it's 4th smallest of 22, between the 1852-O (260,000) and the 1859-O (560,000).
Arrows removed and big Philadelphia runs (1856 to 1859)
The arrows came off in 1856, though the 1.24 gram weight stayed. Philadelphia struck 4,880,000 half dimes that year and 7,280,000 in 1857, while New Orleans made 1,100,000 and 1,380,000. Spanish and Mexican silver lost its legal tender status in 1857, which raised demand for American small change. New Orleans struck more than a million half dimes in each of 1856, 1857 and 1858. That same law replaced the large copper cent with the small Flying Eagle cent.
Philadelphia's 1858 total of 3,500,000 includes a well known error, the date over inverted date. The date was first punched upside down and then corrected. Traces of the inverted digits can be seen around the date. New Orleans struck 1,660,000 in 1858. Output then dropped in 1859, to 340,000 at Philadelphia and 560,000 at New Orleans. Philadelphia's 7,280,000 coins of 1857 are the second largest half dime mintage, behind only the arrows coins of 1853.
Proofs were made in quantity from 1859, when 800 were struck. For collectors these years are an easy way to add Seated half dimes with the stars obverse, since most dates are common. Check the 1858 date with a strong glass for the inverted traces. On any coin of the period, look for the O mint mark on the reverse and judge the wear on Liberty's knee and the shield.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1859
The Indian Head cent replaced the Flying Eagle cent in 1859. Its first-year reverse showed a laurel wreath, replaced by an oak wreath and shield the next year.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock with her right hand on a shield crossed by a scroll reading LIBERTY and her left hand holding a pole topped by a liberty cap. The 1837 and 1838-O half dimes show nothing else on the obverse but the date. From 1838 to 1859 thirteen stars ring the design and from 1860 they are replaced by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Drapery falls from her left elbow on coins from late 1840 on. Arrows beside the date mark the lighter coins of 1853 to 1855. Until 1859 the reverse shows HALF DIME inside a laurel wreath circled by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. From 1860 a cereal wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves surrounds HALF DIME alone. Mint marks for New Orleans and San Francisco are on the reverse near the bow.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Half Dime (1837–1873) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1859 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 340,000 |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 1.24 grams |
| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0359 troy oz (1.116 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime | 340,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0359 oz |
| 1859 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof | 800 | Proof | 0.0359 oz |
| 1859-O Seated Liberty Half Dime | 560,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0359 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.