1857 US Coins: Values & Mintages

US coinage in 1857

The Act of February 21, 1857 ended the large cent and the half cent and introduced the small copper-nickel Flying Eagle cent. The same law ended the legal tender status of foreign coins, so Spanish and Mexican silver could be traded in for new US coins.

How many coins were made in 1857

Counting the circulation issues on this page, US mints struck 49,277,058 coins dated 1857 across 17 issues. That is 58% more than in 1856 (31,273,093). In 1858 the figure rose to 53,390,172.

By mint: Philadelphia 44,092,245 (89%, up from 24,774,033), New Orleans 4,918,000 (10%, down from 5,906,000), San Francisco 250,000 (0.51%, down from 591,600), Charlotte 13,280 (0.03%, new this year) and Dahlonega 3,533 (0.01%, up from 1,460).

Those coins held about 3,876,112 troy ounces of pure silver and 38,782 troy ounces of gold.

1857 coins by denomination

Cents: 17,783,456 struck in 2 circulation issues of the Braided Hair Large Cent and Flying Eagle Cent, up 561% on 1856. The scarcest is the 1857 (333,456) and the most plentiful the 1857 (17,450,000).

Dimes: 7,120,000 struck in 2 circulation issues of the Seated Liberty Dime, up 1.3% on 1856. The scarcest is the 1857-O (1,540,000) and the most plentiful the 1857 (5,580,000).

Quarters: 10,906,000 struck in 3 circulation issues of the Seated Liberty Quarter, up 28% on 1856. The scarcest is the 1857-S (82,000) and the most plentiful the 1857 (9,644,000).

Half Dollars: 2,964,000 struck in 3 circulation issues of the Seated Liberty Half Dollar, down 22% on 1856. The scarcest is the 1857-S (158,000) and the most plentiful the 1857 (1,988,000).

Gold Coins: 801,602 struck in 4 circulation issues of the Gold Dollar, down 55% on 1856. The scarcest is the 1857-D (3,533) and the most plentiful the 1857 (774,789).

Odd Denominations: 9,702,000 struck in 3 circulation issues of the Three-Cent Silver and Seated Liberty Half Dime, up 30% on 1856. The scarcest is the 1857 (1,042,000) and the most plentiful the 1857 (7,280,000).

Every 1857 circulation issue at a glance

• 1857-D Gold Dollar: 3,533 struck, 13th lowest of 75 in the series, up from 1,460 in 1856.
• 1857-S Gold Dollar: 10,000 struck, 37th lowest of 75 in the series, down from 24,600 in 1856.
• 1857-C Gold Dollar: 13,280 struck, more than 59% of the series' 75 issues, up from 9,803 in 1855.
• 1857-S Seated Liberty Quarter: 82,000 struck, 35th lowest of 108 in the series, down from 286,000 in 1856.
• 1857-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar: 158,000 struck, 26th lowest of 116 in the series, down from 211,000 in 1856.
• 1857 Braided Hair Large Cent: 333,456 struck, 2nd lowest of 19 in the series, down from 2,690,463 in 1856.
• 1857 Gold Dollar: 774,789 struck, more than 91% of the series' 75 issues, down from 1,762,936 in 1856.
• 1857-O Seated Liberty Half Dollar: 818,000 struck, more than 54% of the series' 116 issues, down from 2,658,000 in 1856.
• 1857 Three-Cent Silver: 1,042,000 struck, more than 77% of the series' 23 issues, down from 1,458,000 in 1856.
• 1857-O Seated Liberty Quarter: 1,180,000 struck, more than 79% of the series' 108 issues, similar to 1856.
• 1857-O Seated Liberty Half Dime: 1,380,000 struck, more than 77% of the series' 70 issues, up from 1,100,000 in 1856.
• 1857-O Seated Liberty Dime: 1,540,000 struck, more than 63% of the series' 116 issues, up from 1,180,000 in 1856.

The 5 more plentiful issues are listed in the tables below.

Braided Hair Large Cent: Record output and the end of the large cent

The large cent peaked in 1851 with 9.9 million coined. That year includes the 1851/81 date error. Output stayed high through 1854, but copper prices kept rising. By the mid 1850s each cent cost close to its face value to make. The 1855 has upright and slanting 5 varieties plus a Knob on Ear die break. The 1856 comes with an upright or slanting 5.

Congress ended the large cent with the Act of February 21, 1857, which created the smaller copper-nickel cent. Only 333,456 large cents dated 1857 were coined, early in the year, in large date and small date styles. These later dates survive in larger numbers in uncirculated grades than earlier cents, many with original red and brown color. Proof mintages also increased in 1854 to 1857 as interest in collecting grew.

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Flying Eagle Cent: The first small cents

The Flying Eagle began as a pattern in 1856, when a small number were struck to show members of Congress the proposed copper-nickel cent. Many more were restruck for collectors in the following years. The Act of February 21, 1857 approved a 72 grain coin of 88 percent copper and 12 percent nickel. The public lined up at the Philadelphia Mint in May 1857 to exchange old large cents and Spanish silver for the new coins. Output was 17.45 million in 1857 and 24.6 million in 1858.

The hard alloy and high relief eagle caused trouble. Dies cracked quickly and many coins show weak eagle tail feathers and wreath leaves. The 1857 has clashed die varieties showing traces of other denominations. On 1858 large letters cents the A and M in AMERICA touch, while on small letters cents they are separated. A rare 1858/7 overdate also exists. Survivors are usually light tan to olive in color.

The 1856 Flying Eagle cents were made as patterns, an estimated 2,000 or so pieces including restrikes made for collectors in later years. They were never released for circulation, but because they are listed with the regular series the 1856 is the key to a set. The new cents were released on May 25, 1857, when crowds lined up at the Mint to exchange old large cents and Spanish silver. The 1858/7 overdate is a popular variety.

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Seated Liberty Quarter: Heavy output and Civil War hoarding

With the lighter standard in place, quarters circulated freely. Philadelphia struck about 7.3 million in 1856, 9.6 million in 1857 and 7.4 million in 1858. The 1856-S includes a large S over small S variety. New Orleans made its last quarters of the period in 1860 and did not strike them again until 1891.

Once banks suspended specie payments at the end of 1861, silver vanished from circulation in the East. Philadelphia output fell to 191,600 in 1863, 93,600 in 1864 and 58,800 in 1865, while San Francisco, where silver still passed at par, kept striking small runs. The 1864-S, at 20,000, is the key of the decade. From 1858 proofs were made each year in the hundreds. Several of the Civil War dates are easier to find as proofs than as business strikes.

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Seated Liberty Half Dollar: Peak branch output and the 1861-O

With the arrows gone, halves were struck in large numbers. New Orleans reached 7,294,000 in 1858. San Francisco's early halves, such as the 1856-S and 1857-S, are scarce in better grades. In 1861 New Orleans struck 2,532,633 halves under three authorities: the United States, the State of Louisiana and the Confederacy. Specialists use die markers to tell which authority struck a given coin. Four halves were also made with a Confederate reverse design.

During the Civil War silver disappeared from eastern circulation. Philadelphia mintages fell to between about 250,000 and 512,000 a year from 1862 to 1865. San Francisco, where coins still passed at face, struck more halves than Philadelphia in most of those years. Worn wartime Philadelphia halves are harder to find than their mintages suggest because many were melted later.

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Gold Dollar: Type 3 at the southern mints

The Type 3 design used a larger, flatter head that struck up better than Type 2. Philadelphia made hundreds of thousands each year, but Charlotte and Dahlonega produced only a few thousand and these coins are scarce. San Francisco struck 10,000 to 15,000 a year. Charlotte struck its last gold dollars in 1859.

The 1861-D is the famous coin of this era. After Georgia seized the Dahlonega Mint in April 1861, a small number of gold dollars were struck there under Confederate control. It is a major rarity today and is often counterfeited. Philadelphia struck 527,150 gold dollars in 1861 as the war began. Branch mint Type 3 dollars of these years are usually found in Very Fine to About Uncirculated.

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Three-Cent Silver: Type 2 with a triple outline

In 1854 the coin was raised to 90 percent silver and lightened to 0.75 grams, bringing it into line with other silver coins. Longacre added three outlines around the star and placed an olive sprig above and a bundle of arrows below the III on the reverse.

Type 2 coins are notoriously hard to strike well. Many show weak or missing details on the star and shield. Output dropped to 671,000 in 1854 and only 139,000 in 1855, the scarcest Type 2 date. Mintages recovered to over a million a year from 1856 to 1858. Proofs were made regularly from 1858, though they are rare for that year. A sharply struck Type 2 coin is the hardest of the three types to find.

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Seated Liberty Dime: Arrows removed and San Francisco begins

The arrows came off the dies in 1856, but the lighter 2.49 gram weight stayed. Philadelphia struck 5,780,000 dimes that year, in Large Date and Small Date versions. It added 5,580,000 in 1857. New Orleans kept a steady pace with 1,180,000 and 1,540,000. Demand was boosted by the Act of February 21, 1857, which ended the legal tender status of Spanish and Mexican silver. The old reales and half reales had served as small change for decades and American dimes now had to take their place. The same law ended the large copper cent and the half cent.

The San Francisco Mint struck its first dimes in 1856, only 70,000 pieces. It made none in 1857, then 60,000 in 1858 and 60,000 again in 1859. All three S dates are keys, because the coins circulated hard in the gold country and few were saved. Philadelphia output also fell sharply, to 1,540,000 in 1858 and just 430,000 in 1859. New Orleans struck 290,000 and 480,000 in those two years.

Proof mintages reached 800 in 1859, far more than in earlier years, as collecting grew. When you find a dime of 1856 to 1859, check the reverse near the bow of the wreath for an S mint mark. A worn S coin is worth far more than a well preserved Philadelphia piece of the same year.

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Seated Liberty Half Dime: Arrows removed and big Philadelphia runs

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.

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