1863 Seated Liberty Dime Proof
Proof struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 460 made
- Mintage
- 460
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 2.49 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 1863 Seated Liberty Dime Proof worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1863 sells well above face value. The flip side is that counterfeits and altered dates are common, so authentication matters.
What would make yours worth more:
- Grade and, for proofs, strong cameo contrast
- 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 1863 Seated Liberty Dime Proof rare?
- Fairly. The Mint made 460 for collectors. Most were kept in their original packaging.
- Is the 1863 Seated Liberty Dime Proof silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0720 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1863 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.
- How many 1863 Seated Liberty Dime proofs were made?
- 460.
What to check on your 1863
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- 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.
Proofs from 1863 were struck one at a time in small numbers and many were later spent or mishandled. Look for hairlines from cleaning, which lower the grade.
The story of the 1863
Civil War rarities from Philadelphia (1863 to 1867)
These five years hold the lowest Philadelphia mintages of the series. With silver hoarded in the East, Philadelphia struck only 14,000 dimes in 1863, 11,000 in 1864, 10,000 in 1865, 8,000 in 1866 and 6,000 in 1867. Silver was not circulating in the East, so there was little call for new dimes there. Every one of those dates is a key and even a worn example is a significant rarity. The 1867, at 6,000, has the smallest business strike mintage of any Seated dime.
In California gold and silver kept circulating through the war, so San Francisco carried the load. It struck between 135,000 and 230,000 dimes each year, with the 1864-S the largest at 230,000. The S coins are scarce but far more available than the Philadelphia issues of the same years. Many have heavy wear from years of use in the West.
Proofs were struck at Philadelphia throughout the war, with 460 in 1863 and 725 in 1866. For 1863 to 1867 the proof is sometimes easier to find than a business strike of the same date. That makes careful attribution important. A proof has mirror fields, sharp squared rims and crisp stars and letters, while a business strike has satiny luster or ordinary wear. Altered dates and removed mint marks are a known risk, so have any Philadelphia dime of these years authenticated.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1863
With cents hoarded during the Civil War, merchants issued millions of privately made cent-sized tokens to make change. Congress banned private coinage the following 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 | 1863 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Proof |
| Mintage | 460 |
| Face value | 10¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 2.49 grams |
| Diameter | 17.9 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0720 troy oz (2.241 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1863 Seated Liberty Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1863 Seated Liberty Dime | 14,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0720 oz |
| 1863 Seated Liberty Dime Proof | 460 | Proof | 0.0720 oz |
| 1863-S Seated Liberty Dime | 157,500 | Circulation strike | 0.0720 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.