1866-S Seated Liberty Half Dime
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 120,000 made
- Mintage
- 120,000
- 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 1866-S Seated Liberty Half Dime worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1866-S 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 1866-S Seated Liberty Half Dime rare?
- Yes. Only 120,000 were made, 12th lowest of the 70 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1866-S 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 1866 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. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1866 are scarcer?
- The 1864-S at 90,000, the 1863-S at 100,000. So the 1866-S is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1866-S Seated Liberty Half Dime coins were made?
- 120,000.
What to check on your 1866-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1866 (10,000 made).
- 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 1866 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof (725 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 mint mark and date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1866-S
At 120,000, the 1866 run at San Francisco was close to the 1865 figure. The next year it made 120,000 (1867-S).
It was the big producer of the year, well ahead of 1866 (10,000). In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1865-S (120,000) and the 1867-S (120,000).
San Francisco struck the Seated Liberty Half Dime in 10 issues between 1863 and 1873. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1864-S (90,000). Within the 1860s it's 10th smallest of 18, between the 1865-S (120,000) and the 1867-S (120,000).
Civil War scarcity and the first San Francisco half dimes (1863 to 1867)
With silver hoarded in the East, Philadelphia struck very few half dimes for circulation. The totals were 18,000 in 1863, 48,000 in 1864, 13,000 in 1865, 10,000 in 1866 and 8,000 in 1867. Every one of these dates is a key and a significant rarity in any grade. The 1867, at 8,000, has the lowest business strike mintage of any regular Seated half dime. Fractional currency notes in denominations as low as three cents did the work these coins would normally have done. Philadelphia also struck proofs each year, from 460 to 725, so a proof is sometimes easier to find than a business strike.
San Francisco struck its first half dimes in 1863, a total of 100,000. Gold and silver still circulated in California during the war, so S coins went straight into use. San Francisco made 90,000 in 1864 and 120,000 a year from 1865 to 1867. These S dates are scarce but much more available than the Philadelphia coins, though most survivors are well worn.
Because the Philadelphia dates are so rare, check any of them carefully. Confirm the date has not been altered and that no mint mark has been removed. Proofs have deep mirror fields and sharp rims. Business strikes have frosty luster or normal wear. For the S coins, look near the bow of the wreath for the small S.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1866
The five-cent nickel arrived in 1866 with the Shield design. The motto "In God We Trust" was added to silver dollars, half dollars, quarters and the larger gold coins.
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 | 1866 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 120,000 |
| 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 1866 Seated Liberty Half Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1866 Seated Liberty Half Dime | 10,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0359 oz |
| 1866 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof | 725 | Proof | 0.0359 oz |
| 1866-S Seated Liberty Half Dime | 120,000 | 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.