Liberty Seated Half Dime (1837-1873)

The dime was a useful and popular coin through most of the years in which the Seated Liberty type was in production. Fairly large numbers were struck continually, with two notable exceptions. The depreciation of federal paper money during the early-mid 1860s severely curtailed production, resulting in numerous scarce and rare issues. A surplus of silver in circulation during the late 1870s and through much of the 1880s prompted a near total of suspension of dime coinage during this period, though enough pieces were hoarded by speculators to prevent any of these dates from becoming truly rare. The low-mintage issues of the 1860s and the rare Carson City dimes of the early 1870s serve as a deterrent to completing this series by date and mint, yet such collecting does enjoy some popularity. Owing to the great number of issues and complexity of the series, variety collectors are relatively few in number. Two notable reference books exist for Seated Liberty Dimes. The earlier volume by Kamal Ahwash is a good book, but it has largely been superseded by the more recent reference by Brian Greer. Both are well researched and will be of interest to the specialist. NGC will attribute Seated Liberty Dime varieties listed in VarietyPlus. The most desirable varieties are 1841-O with the Closed Bud reverse of 1837-40, the doubled-die obverses of 1873 Arrows and 1876-CC and the Large S over Small S varieties of 1890-S and 1891-S.