1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (Unique)
Variety of the 1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime struck at the San Francisco Mint
- Mintage
- Not recorded
- 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 1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (Unique) worth?
Value depends entirely on whether the coin is genuine and on its condition. Have any candidate authenticated before you buy or sell.
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (Unique) rare?
- Yes. It's a variety or error, not a regular issue.
- Is the 1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (Unique) silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0359 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1870 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.
What to check on your 1870-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 1870 (535,000 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 1870 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof (1,000 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 1870-S
The last half dimes (1868 to 1873)
Philadelphia struck 88,600 half dimes in 1868 and 208,000 in 1869, then 535,000 in 1870, 1,873,000 in 1871 and 2,947,000 in 1872. San Francisco made between 161,000 and 837,000 a year, except in 1870. No S half dimes were reported for that year, but a single 1870-S turned up in 1978 and is still the only one known. The 1872-S comes with the mint mark above the bow and below it. The 1871-S, with 161,000 struck, has the lowest regular S mintage of these years.
Since 1866 the copper-nickel five-cent piece had been doing the half dime's job at a lower cost. The Coinage Act of 1873 ended the silver half dime. Philadelphia struck 712,000 in that final year and San Francisco 324,000. Many half dimes were later melted. With the half dime and the three-cent silver both gone, the dime became the smallest American silver coin. Proofs ran between 600 and 1,000 a year in these final years.
Half dimes of these last years are mostly common in worn grades. The 1868 and 1869 are the scarcer Philadelphia dates, with 88,600 and 208,000 struck. For the 1872-S, check where the S sits relative to the bow. All coins of the period weigh 1.24 grams and measure 15.5 millimeters across, so a scale is a quick way to rule out a fake.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1870
The Carson City Mint in Nevada began striking coins in 1870, using silver from the Comstock Lode. Its "CC" mint mark is now among the most sought after.
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 | 1870 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | Not recorded |
| 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 1870 Seated Liberty Half Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1870 Seated Liberty Half Dime | 535,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0359 oz |
| 1870 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof | 1,000 | Proof | 0.0359 oz |
| 1870-S Seated Liberty Half Dime (Unique) | – | Variety | 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.