1858-O Seated Liberty Quarter
Circulation strike struck at the New Orleans Mint · 520,000 made
- Mintage
- 520,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 6.22 g
- Diameter
- 24.3 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 1858-O Seated Liberty Quarter 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 1858-O Seated Liberty Quarter rare?
- Somewhat. 520,000 were made, fewer than most dates, so collectors treat it as a semi-key.
- Is the 1858-O Seated Liberty Quarter silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.1800 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1858 Seated Liberty Quarter?
- On the reverse, below the eagle. Philadelphia quarters have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is O, for New Orleans.
- Which New Orleans dates near 1858 are scarcer?
- The 1855-O at 176,000, the 1859-O at 260,000, the 1860-O at 388,000. So the 1858-O is on the scarcer side for those years.
- How many 1858-O Seated Liberty Quarter coins were made?
- 520,000.
What to check on your 1858-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 1858-S (121,000 made).
- 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 1858 Seated Liberty Quarter Proof (300 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. The word LIBERTY on Liberty's shield is the classic test: fully visible in Fine, partly worn in Very Good, gone in Good.
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 1858-O
New Orleans made 520,000 in 1858, down from 1.2 million in 1857. The next year it made 260,000 (1859-O).
The other mints made far more that year: 1858 alone came to 7.4 million, roughly 14 for every 1858-O. If you're checking a pile of 1858 coins, the O is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1846 (510,000) and the 1839 (491,146).
New Orleans struck the Seated Liberty Quarter in 19 issues between 1840 and 1891. By mintage this one lands in the more common half, while the key for that mint is the 1840-O, With Drapery (43,000). Within the 1850s it's 14th smallest of 25, between the 1855-S (396,400) and the 1856-O (968,000).
Heavy output and Civil War hoarding (1856 to 1865)
With the lighter standard in place, quarters circulated freely. Philadelphia struck about 7.3 million in 1856, 9.6 million in 1857 and 7.4 million in 1858. The 1856-S includes a large S over small S variety. New Orleans made its last quarters of the period in 1860 and did not strike them again until 1891.
Once banks suspended specie payments at the end of 1861, silver vanished from circulation in the East. Philadelphia output fell to 191,600 in 1863, 93,600 in 1864 and 58,800 in 1865, while San Francisco, where silver still passed at par, kept striking small runs. The 1864-S, at 20,000, is the key of the decade. From 1858 proofs were made each year in the hundreds. Several of the Civil War dates are easier to find as proofs than as business strikes.
Elsewhere in US coinage in 1858
The Flying Eagle cent was struck for the last time, in Large Letters and Small Letters varieties, before the Indian Head cent replaced it.
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 QUAR. DOL. below. Arrows beside the date (1853 to 1855 and 1873 to 1874) and rays around the eagle (1853) mark weight changes. The motto IN GOD WE TRUST appears above the eagle from 1866.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Seated Liberty Quarter (1838–1891) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1858 |
| Mint | New Orleans Mint |
| Mint mark | "O" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 520,000 |
| Face value | 25¢ |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 6.22 grams |
| Diameter | 24.3 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.1800 troy oz (5.598 g) |
| Designer | Christian Gobrecht |
Other 1858 Seated Liberty Quarter issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1858 Seated Liberty Quarter | 7,368,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1800 oz |
| 1858 Seated Liberty Quarter Proof | 300 | Proof | 0.1800 oz |
| 1858-S Seated Liberty Quarter | 121,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1800 oz |
| 1858-O Seated Liberty Quarter | 520,000 | Circulation strike | 0.1800 oz |
Mintage: United States quarter 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.