By Greg Reynolds for CoinLink

There is no doubt about the fact that the rarest Liberty Seated Dollar is the 1870-S. It is not widely recognized that the second and third rarest dates in the series are the 1852 and 1851 respectively. Indeed, these two dates are rarer than most collectors realize.

Silver Dollars dated 1851 and 1852 are ‘in the news.’ On April 9, in Dallas, Heritage will auction an 1851 Restrike that is certified Proof-64 Cameo by the Professional Coin Grading Service, and an 1852 business strike, PCGS graded MS-62.

The focus here is on the rarity of the 1852. The 1851 deserves separate treatment. In 1866, the motto, “In God We Trust,” was added to the reverse (back) of silver dollars. The two design subtypes for the Liberty Seated Dollar series are thus the ‘No Motto,’ minted from 1840 to1865, and the ‘With Motto,’ minted from 1866 to 1873. The 1852 Silver Dollar is very likely to be the rarest date of the ‘No Motto’ type, though it is plausible that the 1851 is rarer. Certainly, these two are the rarest business strikes of the ‘No Motto’ subtype of Liberty Seated Silver Dollars.

I last wrote about the under-appreciated 1851 and 1852 Silver Dollars in the Fall of 2003, for Numismatic News. My assertion then that the 1852 is rarer than the 1851 had little impact as almost all price guides suggest that there is more demand for the 1851 and is thus thought to be rarer than the 1852. Someone who seeks to complete a set would need both dates.

Duncan Lee is a dealer who specializes in Liberty Seated coins, especially dollars. In early 2005, he published an article that I just discovered. “Next to the 1970-S,” Lee declares, the 1852 “is the rarest overall followed closely by the 1851.” In a recent fixed price list, Lee repeats his conclusion that the 1852 is “the second rarest” Liberty Seated Dollar.

At the time, PCGS had graded twenty-one business strike 1852 Silver Dollars, and thirteen proofs. As of early 2007, the total population of PCGS certified business strikes has risen to thirty-two, an increase of more than fifty percent. The total number of PCGS certified Proof 1852s, however, remains the same.

In September 2003, the Numismatic Guaranty Corp. (NGC) had graded nine business strike 1852 Silver Dollars. Now, the number is up to thirteen, an increase of 44%. Then, the NGC had certified two Proof 1852s as “Originals” and six as Restrikes. As of March 2007, the totals have risen to three “Originals” and ten Restrikes.

Key questions are why are there increases in the totals of 1852 Silver Dollars that have been graded by PCGS and NGC, and how many different 1852 Silver Dollars have been certified by PCGS and NGC? Since 2003, it is very unlikely that several 1852 Dollars re-surfaced that had been hidden away. Almost all of the high-grade 1852 Silver Dollars to come ‘on the market’ were already certified by PCGS or NGC.

The Rudolph collection was auctioned by Stack’s in May 2003. It included both certified and uncertified Silver Dollars. The Rudolph 1852 was PCGS certified Proof-63, and realized $43,700.

In September 2003, Superior Galleries auctioned the “Share” collection of Proof Liberty Seated Dollars, then referred to as “Sunshine” collection, though the name “Share” was on each NGC holder. The Share 1852, NGC graded Proof-64, was pedigreed by the Superior cataloger in the Floyd Starr collection.

In November 2004, the Silver Dollars from the Richmond Collection were auctioned by DLRC in Baltimore. The Richmond 1852 business strike is, or at least was, NGC graded EF-45. At the DLRC auction, this 1852 business strike was purchased for $18,975 by a California dealer who specializes in Liberty Seated coins. The Richmond Proof 1852 Dollar was NGC certified as a “Restrike” and graded “Proof-65.” A New Yorker bought it for $48,875.

The all-time best collection of business strike Liberty Seated Dollars in both the PCGS and NGC set registries is the “Legend” collection. It was formed in less than eighteen months by the collector known as ‘TradeDollarNut.’ Laura Sperber, President of Legend Numismatics, assisted him. This set was on display at the ANA Convention in Pittsburgh during the summer of 2004.

Mr. “TradeDollarNut” refers to his 1852 as “the second finest known.” It was part of the collection of the late Floyd Starr, and was auctioned by Stack’s in October 1992. It was PCGS graded MS-64 when it was on display in Pittsburgh. More recently, NGC has graded it “MS-65.”

The second “all-time finest set” in the PCGS registry is “The Arizona Collection” formed by Michael Magdic. The Goldbergs auctioned this set in February 2005. The Magdic 1852 is or at least was PCGS graded MS-60.

The third “All-Time Finest” set in the PCGS registry, “The Linda Collection,” is “93.18%” complete, yet is missing an 1852. The fourth finest, “Nature’s Miracles,” has a PCGS graded AU-58, said to be formerly in the “Sterling” collection.

The number one set of Proof Liberty Seated Dollars in the NGC registry was formed by Rod Sweet. His set was auctioned by B&M in July 2005, in San Francisco. Sweet had an NGC certified “Proof-65 Cameo” 1852, and a PCGS graded MS-63 business strike.

In April 1997, the Silver Dollars from the Eliasberg collection were auctioned by B&M in New York City. Eliasberg had one 1852, a very appealing proof. Almost all of the high grade proof silver coins from the Eliasberg 1997 sale were submitted to PCGS or NGC soon afterwards. There is a good chance that the Eliasberg 1852 has been graded Proof-64 or -65 by PCGS or NGC

John Pittman had an incredible collection of 19th century U.S. coins, especially of proof issues dating from before 1860. The firm of David Akers auctioned Pittman’s U.S. coins in 1997 and 1998. David Akers personally cataloged the entire collection. In the second Pittman catalogue, Akers hypothesizes that fifty to sixty Proof 1852 Silver Dollars were produced and “perhaps half that number can be accounted for today” in 1998.