1839-O Seated Liberty Dime
Circulation strike struck at the New Orleans Mint · 1,323,000 made
- Mintage
- 1,323,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 2.67 g
- Diameter
- 17.9 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 1839-O Seated Liberty Dime 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 1839-O Seated Liberty Dime rare?
- Somewhat. 1,323,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1839-O Seated Liberty Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0773 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1839 Seated Liberty Dime?
- On the reverse, below the bow of the wreath or inside the wreath, depending on the year. Philadelphia dimes have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is O, for New Orleans.
- Which New Orleans dates near 1839 are scarcer?
- The 1843-O at 150,000, the 1838-O at 406,034, the 1840-O at 1,175,000. So the 1839-O is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1839-O Seated Liberty Dime coins were made?
- 1,323,000.
What to check on your 1839-O
- Make sure the mint mark really is a O. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1839 (1.1 million made).
- 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 key: a full, readable LIBERTY marks a coin in Fine or better. Then check Liberty's head and knee.
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.
The story of the 1839-O
New Orleans ramped up hard in 1839: 1,323,000 coins, about 3.3 times the 1838 run. The next year it made 1.2 million (1840-O).
1839 came to 1.1 million, so neither mint's 1839 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1843 (1,370,000) and the 1890-S (1,423,076).
New Orleans struck the Seated Liberty Dime in 19 issues between 1838 and 1891. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1860-O (40,000). Within the 1830s it's 4th smallest of 5, between the 1839 (1.1 million) and the 1838 (2 million).
No stars, then stars, then drapery (1837 to 1840)
Christian Gobrecht's Seated Liberty design reached the dime in 1837. It was a small version of his silver dollar of 1836 and drew on sketches by the painters Thomas Sully and Titian Peale. The very first dimes show Liberty and the date with no stars at all. Philadelphia struck 682,500 of these No Stars coins, in Large Date and Small Date forms. In 1838 the newly opened New Orleans Mint added 406,034 more, the first dimes ever struck outside Philadelphia. Its dies followed the original design without stars, so the 1838-O is a No Stars coin too.
Philadelphia put thirteen stars around Liberty in 1838 to match the other silver coins and output jumped to 1,992,500. Small Stars, Large Stars and Partial Drapery dies are all part of that figure. New Orleans then struck more dimes than Philadelphia in 1839, with 1,323,000 against 1,053,115. Late in 1840 the sculptor Robert Ball Hughes reworked Liberty. He added a fold of cloth that falls from her left elbow over her knee, gave her a larger cap and stood the shield more upright. Only 377,500 Philadelphia dimes of 1840 carry the new drapery, against 981,500 without it.
For any dime of these four years, start by looking below Liberty's elbow. No extra cloth there means a No Drapery coin. Then count the stars, or note that there are none. Every coin of the period weighs 2.67 grams of 90 percent silver and most survivors are well worn, so a No Stars dime with a clear date and a readable shield is a pleasing find.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1839
The Liberty Seated half dollar replaced the Capped Bust design and the Braided Hair cent replaced the Coronet design late in the year.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock, her right hand resting on a shield crossed by a scroll reading LIBERTY. Her left hand holds a pole topped by a liberty cap and the date is below. The 1837 and 1838-O coins have nothing else on the obverse. From 1838 to 1860 thirteen stars surround her and from 1860 the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA take their place. Drapery hangs from her left elbow on coins from late 1840 on. Arrows flank the date on most dimes of 1853 to 1855 and of 1873 to 1874. The reverse shows ONE DIME inside a laurel wreath ringed by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA until 1860. After that a larger cereal wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves surrounds the words. Branch mint marks are on the reverse near the bow.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Dime (1837–1891) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1839 |
| Mint | New Orleans Mint |
| Mint mark | "O" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 1,323,000 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 2.67 grams |
| Diameter | 17.9 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0773 troy oz (2.403 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1839 Seated Liberty Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1839 Seated Liberty Dime | 1,053,115 | Circulation strike | 0.0773 oz |
| 1839-O Seated Liberty Dime | 1,323,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0773 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.