1851-O Seated Liberty Dime
Circulation strike struck at the New Orleans Mint · 400,000 made
- Mintage
- 400,000
- 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 1851-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 1851-O Seated Liberty Dime rare?
- Yes. Only 400,000 were made, 45th lowest of the 116 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1851-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 1851 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 1851 are scarcer?
- The 1849-O at 300,000. So the 1851-O is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1851-O Seated Liberty Dime coins were made?
- 400,000.
What to check on your 1851-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 1851 (1 million made).
- Check the date and mint mark under magnification for tooling or added letters. Scarce dates are the ones forgers alter.
- 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. Low-mintage dates attract altered and counterfeit coins. Check that the mint mark and date have not been tooled or added, or buy one already certified by PCGS or NGC.
The story of the 1851-O
New Orleans made 400,000 in 1851, down from 510,000 in 1850. The next year it made 430,000 (1852-O).
1851 came to 1 million, so neither mint's 1851 coin is much scarcer than the other. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1838-O (406,034) and the 1840 (With Drapery) (377,500).
New Orleans struck the Seated Liberty Dime in 19 issues between 1838 and 1891. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1860-O (40,000). Within the 1850s it's 6th smallest of 23, between the 1858-O (290,000) and the 1852-O (430,000).
The 1846 and the rising price of silver (1846 to 1852)
Philadelphia's dime output collapsed in 1846 to just 31,300 coins, the smallest Seated dime mintage before the Civil War. It struck only 245,000 in 1847 and 451,500 in 1848, while New Orleans made no dimes from 1846 to 1848. The 1846 is the key of the decade and a worn example is still a significant rarity. Altered dates are a known problem, so check the 6 closely.
The gold discoveries in California from 1848 changed everything. As gold poured in, silver rose in value against it. By about 1850 the silver in a dime was worth a little more than ten cents, so brokers and banks pulled new dimes out of circulation and melted or exported them. Philadelphia kept striking, with 1,931,500 in 1850, 1,026,500 in 1851 and 1,535,500 in 1852. New Orleans added between 300,000 and 510,000 a year from 1849 to 1852. Many of these coins never saw long use, which is why some dates are scarcer today than the figures suggest.
The O mint marks of 1849 to 1852 are better dates than their Philadelphia partners. All dimes of the era still weigh 2.67 grams. If yours shows arrows beside the date, it belongs to the next period instead. The shortage hit every silver coin, not just the dime. In 1851 Congress tried a stopgap, the tiny three-cent silver piece, made with less silver than its face value so it would not be hoarded.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1851
The three-cent silver piece was introduced in 1851 so people could buy the new three-cent postage stamps. It was the lightest coin the United States has ever issued.
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 | 1851 |
| Mint | New Orleans Mint |
| Mint mark | "O" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 400,000 |
| 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 1851 Seated Liberty Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1851 Seated Liberty Dime | 1,026,500 | Circulation strike | 0.0773 oz |
| 1851-O Seated Liberty Dime | 400,000 | 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.