By Dennis Hengeveld

Collecting seated coins can be fun, rewarding, and above all very challenging. Not many people can afford both the time and cost to search, find, and have the opportunity to buy the hard to find coins which are included in every seated series due to the many dates and mintmarks included in the series. Examples could be the 1878-S half dollar and various Carson City coins. These coins, “stoppers” as they are called, are expensive and very hard to find, often causing collectors to fail in their final goal of completing a series they have specialized in for a long time.

Although I love seated coins, as a 19 year old I just can’t afford to complete any of the seated series in the grades I like, mainly AU50 to MS64 or higher in as original condition as I can find them. Of course, I might be able to buy those coins later in my life but I am not really the person who has the patience to buy coins for a set I know won’t be complete within an acceptable period time (“acceptable” for me is 8-10 years).

As you might guess, I had to find a solution. So, after buying my first certified seated coin (and my first seated coin anyway), which happened to be a wonderful and very original PCGS MS64 1871 Half Dime, I decided to try a very complete type set, with every single type in there (including coins with different weights but the same design). After buying my second Half Dime (1843 PCGS MS63 which after studying proved to be V-6a, the well-known repunched date) before buying any other seated coin, I got hooked to that series.

Yet, I already knew that the series was not possible to complete in both the time period in those grades I had in mind. So I searched for other solutions, with one of them described in this article: collecting the date-set; each date just one time without paying attention to mint marks. This technique is affordable and possible to complete, even for me with a limited budget.

In this article, all seated series, with the exception of the 20-cent series and the Trade Dollar (a series I personally do not consider a real seated type coin), are discussed. The 20-cent series is relatively easy but not fun to complete with only two business strike dates. Thus, for now, it is not included in this article. I will shortly describe the coins in the set and the difficulty of completing a date-set. For the first series of the seated type, this article will start with the highest denomination in the series, the Silver Dollar. (more…)

By Ken Cable-Camilleis E-Gobrecht 2008 Volume 4, Issue 1

The following is a collector value assessment of coins within the portion of the Liberty Seated series spanning the years 1837 through 1852, all denominations. The foregoing analysis is based on several factors, including but not limited to the PCGS Population/NGC Census Reports, various pricing guides, and extensive personally compiled data and statistics related to general market presence. This compilation indicates, based on my observations and research, what in the realm of mainstream numismatics could be the 25 most underrated Seated coins within this period.

My research suggests that presently there are no overpriced Seated coins dated prior to 1853. I also surmise that most of the dimes and quarters minted from 1840 through 1851 are dramatically undervalued in the mainstream market. While working from such a large sample space of dates and varieties within the five Seated denominations covering the 16-year span of 1837-52, it was a tough call to narrow the field down to 25 specific coins that have especially captured my attention.

The reader should bear in mind that the coins enumerated in this work are not all “classic rarities” because current pricing may have already taken their rarity into consideration. They are simply coins that have received too little attention, or coins that can be obtained relatively cheaply. Some of these coins may already be recognized by LSCC members or other numismatic specialists as having been overlooked. Their market values are not, however, reflected in the most influential price guides, especially the Coin Dealer Newsletter “Greysheet” Quarterly (CDNQ) which since 1992 seems to have been the predominant buyer guide for Seated material.

Another observation is that most certified coins of 1837-52 are “market graded” for their assigned grade. Therefore, I have taken into consideration that many Seated coins of this period that are certified MS60 to MS62 may actually have cabinet friction, obtrusive field abrasions or hairline scratches, poorly struck stars and areas within devices, or wear which is confused with poor strike. I have even seen Seated coins slabbed MS63 to MS65 for which I would assign technical grades in the AU range! Choice pieces seem to represent less than 25% of third-party-graded Seated coins from 1837 through 1852, and even some that have few blemishes are not fully struck (that is, all 13 stars, full head/shield details, full eagle features, and anything else that is supposed to be struck up). (more…)

And The Same Error in Two Other Denominations
By Rich Uhrich – January 2010 E-Gobrecht

I’ve always been intrigued by the 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date Half Dollar ever since I first saw it in The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half Dollars, by Randy Wiley and Bill Bugert, published in 1993.

Wiley and Bugert designate this coin as WB-102 and list its overall rarity as R6 (13 to 30 known). The original date was punched too far left, and much of it was effaced on the dies when the second date was punched in the proper position.

Therefore, on the coin we can see remnants of the bottoms of each of the 4 digits of the original date, to the left of the second date. There is also a remnant of a “9″ in the rock above the “49″, and also the loop of a “9″ in the denticles below the date. I always thought this was an unusuallooking variety and I purchased a VG coin from Jim O’Donnell at the 2000 ANA in Philadelphia.

I attended the 2005 EAC Convention in Annapolis, MD and I was studying an N-1 1847 Large Cent. This large cent has a doubled date with the original date to the left and the bottoms of all 4 digits clear. Sounds familiar! I immediately recognized that this was the same error as the 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date Half Dollar, so I immediately purchased the coin from its owner, Doug Bird.

According to Bob Grellman in The Die Varieties of United States Large Cents 1840 – 1857, the 1847 N-1 is an R2 variety. Subsequent research through the Grellman book resulted in identifying the 1846 N-4 (R1) and the 1848 N-4 (R4) as other examples of this error.

I didn’t think further about this connection until a few years later when I studied an 1848 Doubled Date Quarter that came in with a collection I purchased. This quarter has a doubled date with the original date to the left and the bottoms of all 4 digits clear. And it was obvious that this was the exact same error as occurred on as the 1849 Dramatically Doubled Date Half Dollar and the N-1 1847 Large Cent. (more…)