1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime
Circulation strike struck at the Philadelphia Mint · 3,360,000 made
- Mintage
- 3,360,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 1.24 g
- Diameter
- 15.5 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 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.0359 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime rare?
- No. With 3.4 million made, it's one of the most common Seated Liberty Half Dimes.
- Is the 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.0359 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime?
- On the reverse, below the bow of the wreath or inside the wreath, depending on the year. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark.
- Which Philadelphia dates near 1861 are scarcer?
- The 1866 at 10,000, the 1865 at 13,000, the 1863 at 18,000, plus 4 more. So the 1861 is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime coins were made?
- 3,360,000.
What to check on your 1861
- There's no mint mark on this one, so the date and condition are what matter.
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Proof or circulation strike? A proof has mirror-like fields and frosted design details and was sold to collectors, not released in change. The 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof (1,000 made) is the one to compare with.
- 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 wears first; a full LIBERTY marks Fine or better. These tiny coins are often bent, cleaned or holed.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value.
The story of the 1861
Philadelphia ramped up hard in 1861: 3,360,000 coins, about 4.2 times the 1860 run. In 1862 the figure was 1.5 million.
No other mint struck it for circulation that year, so every 1861 you find is from Philadelphia.
Across Philadelphia's 39 Seated Liberty Half Dime issues, the hardest to find is the 1867 with 8,000 made. The 1861 is one of the easier ones. No Seated Liberty Half Dime of the 1860s had a bigger run.
The legend moves to the obverse (1860 to 1862)
In 1860 James B. Longacre replaced the stars with the words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The reverse now shows a cereal wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves around HALF DIME. Philadelphia struck 798,000 of the new design and New Orleans 1,060,000. That was the last New Orleans half dime, since Louisiana left the Union early in 1861. The new reverse puts HALF DIME inside the wreath with no lettering around it, because the country's name now sits on the obverse. No San Francisco half dimes were struck in these years. The design stayed in use until the denomination ended in 1873.
Philadelphia struck 3,360,000 in 1861, a figure that includes an 1861/0 overdate visible only under strong magnification. Then the Civil War cut production. Banks stopped paying out silver at the end of 1861 and by 1862 half dimes had vanished from circulation in the East. In July 1862 Congress authorized postage currency, small paper notes that stood in for silver change. Philadelphia still struck 1,492,000 that year.
Proofs were struck at 1,000 a year in 1860 and 1861 and 550 in 1862. The legend type coins of these years are common in worn grades and make a good type coin. To spot one quickly, look at the obverse: the legend replaces the stars around Liberty. Check under magnification for the 1861/0 if you have an 1861.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1861
The Civil War began. Confederate forces seized the branch mints at New Orleans, Charlotte and Dahlonega. New Orleans struck some half dollars under Confederate control before closing.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock with her right hand on a shield crossed by a scroll reading LIBERTY and her left hand holding a pole topped by a liberty cap. The 1837 and 1838-O half dimes show nothing else on the obverse but the date. From 1838 to 1859 thirteen stars ring the design and from 1860 they are replaced by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. Drapery falls from her left elbow on coins from late 1840 on. Arrows beside the date mark the lighter coins of 1853 to 1855. Until 1859 the reverse shows HALF DIME inside a laurel wreath circled by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. From 1860 a cereal wreath of corn, wheat, maple and oak leaves surrounds HALF DIME alone. Mint marks for New Orleans and San Francisco are on the reverse near the bow.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Half Dime (1837–1873) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1861 |
| Mint | Philadelphia Mint |
| Mint mark | None |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 3,360,000 |
| Face value | 5¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 1.24 grams |
| Diameter | 15.5 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.0359 troy oz (1.116 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime | 3,360,000 | Circulation strike | 0.0359 oz |
| 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime (Overdate, 1 over 0, 1861/0) | – | Variety | 0.0359 oz |
| 1861 Seated Liberty Half Dime Proof | 1,000 | Proof | 0.0359 oz |
Mintage: US Mint records as published in standard references, each figure checked against at least two independent sources. How we build these pages.