1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 227,000 made
- Mintage
- 227,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 13.36 g
- Diameter
- 30.6 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 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar 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 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar rare?
- Yes. Only 227,000 were made, 33rd lowest of the 116 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.3866 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the reverse, below the eagle. Philadelphia halves have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1850 are scarcer?
- The 1852 at 77,130, the 1851 at 200,750. So the 1850 is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar coins were made?
- 227,000.
What to check on your 1850
- 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.
- 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 benchmark for Fine. Check the high points of Liberty's knees and breast.
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 1850
Production at Philadelphia fell off a cliff in 1850. Only 227,000 were made, against 1.3 million the year before. That drop is why the 1850 is the one people look for. The next year it made 200,750 (1851).
The other mint made far more that year: 1850-O alone came to 2.5 million, roughly 11 for every 1850. If you're checking a pile of 1850 coins, the mint mark is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1873-S, With Arrows (228,000) and the 1873-CC, With Arrows (214,560).
Philadelphia struck the Seated Liberty Half Dollar in 56 issues between 1839 and 1891. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1882 (4,400). Within the 1850s it's 8th smallest of 26, between the 1856-S (211,000) and the 1851-O (402,000).
Gobrecht's seated half and New Orleans output (1839 to 1852)
The Seated Liberty half dollar arrived in 1839. The earliest coins lack drapery at Liberty's elbow, while later 1839 coins show the added folds of cloth. From 1840 New Orleans produced halves every year of the period, often outstripping Philadelphia, with the mint mark below the eagle. New Orleans struck 3,180,000 in 1848 while Philadelphia made only 580,000.
Varieties include the scarce 1842-O small date and the 1846 with a 6 punched over a horizontal 6. After gold was found in California, the silver in these coins became worth more than face value. Many were melted or exported. Philadelphia struck only 227,000 in 1850, 200,750 in 1851 and 77,130 in 1852, making the 1852 the scarcest Philadelphia date of the period.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1850
The first $20 double eagles were struck for circulation in 1850, turning the flood of California gold into the highest-denomination US coin of the time.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock holding a shield inscribed LIBERTY and a pole topped with a liberty cap, with 13 stars around her and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with HALF DOL. below. Arrows beside the date (1853 to 1855 and 1873 to 1874) and rays around the eagle (1853) mark weight changes and IN GOD WE TRUST appears above the eagle from 1866.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Half Dollar (1839–1891) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1850 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 227,000 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 13.36 grams |
| Diameter | 30.6 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.3866 troy oz (12.024 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1850 Seated Liberty Half Dollar | 227,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3866 oz |
| 1850-O Seated Liberty Half Dollar | 2,456,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3866 oz |
Mintage: United States half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.