1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 12,000 made
- Mintage
- 12,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 12.5 g
- Diameter
- 30.6 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 1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1878-S 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:
- 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 1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar rare?
- Yes. Only 12,000 were made, 12th lowest of the 116 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.3617 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1878 Seated Liberty Half Dollar?
- On the reverse, below the eagle. Philadelphia halves have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1878 are scarcer?
- The 1873-S, No Arrows at 5,000. So the 1878-S is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar coins were made?
- 12,000.
What to check on your 1878-S
- Make sure the mint mark really is an S. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1878-CC (62,000 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 benchmark for Fine. Check the high points of Liberty's knees and breast.
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 1878-S
Production at San Francisco fell off a cliff in 1878. Only 12,000 were made, against 5.4 million the year before. That drop is why the 1878-S is the one people look for. It turned out to be San Francisco's last Seated Liberty Half Dollar for circulation.
The other mints made far more that year: 1878 alone came to 1.4 million, roughly 115 for every 1878-S. If you're checking a pile of 1878 coins, the S is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1888 (12,000) and the 1889 (12,000).
Only the 1873-S, No Arrows has a lower mintage among San Francisco's 26 Seated Liberty Half Dollars. Within the 1870s it's 3rd smallest of 32, between the 1873-S, No Arrows (5,000) and the 1870-CC (54,617).
Arrows again and the silver flood (1873 to 1878)
Early 1873 halves without arrows come with closed 3 and open 3 dates. The 1873-S without arrows had a reported mintage of 5,000, but no example is known today. Once the Coinage Act of 1873 set the half at 12.5 grams, arrows were added beside the date for 1873 and 1874. The 1874-CC, with 59,000 struck, is the scarce coin of that type.
From 1875 to 1877 the Mint struck halves by the millions to retire fractional paper currency. These are the most common Seated halves and the easiest to find in mint state. The flood ended abruptly in 1878. San Francisco struck only 12,000 and Carson City 62,000 that year. The 1878-S is one of the major rarities of the series. The 1878-CC is scarce as well.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1878
The Bland-Allison Act required the Treasury to buy millions of dollars' worth of silver each month and coin it into dollars. George T. Morgan's new silver dollar was the result and the twenty-cent piece was struck for the last time, as proofs only.
How to recognize it
Liberty sits on a rock holding a shield inscribed LIBERTY and a pole topped with a liberty cap, with 13 stars around her and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with HALF DOL. below. Arrows beside the date (1853 to 1855 and 1873 to 1874) and rays around the eagle (1853) mark weight changes and IN GOD WE TRUST appears above the eagle from 1866.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Half Dollar (1839–1891) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1878 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 12,000 |
| Face value | 50¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 12.5 grams |
| Diameter | 30.6 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.3617 troy oz (11.250 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1878 Seated Liberty Half Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1878 Seated Liberty Half Dollar | 1,378,400 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar | 12,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
| 1878-CC Seated Liberty Half Dollar | 62,000 | Circulation strike | 0.3617 oz |
Mintage: United States half dollar mintage figures (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.