1861-S Seated Liberty Quarter
Circulation strike struck at the San Francisco Mint · 96,000 made
- Mintage
- 96,000
- 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 1861-S Seated Liberty Quarter worth?
Few coins in the series are harder to find. Even a worn 1861-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 1861-S Seated Liberty Quarter rare?
- Yes. Only 96,000 were made, 42nd lowest of the 108 regular issues in the series.
- Is the 1861-S 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 1861 Seated Liberty Quarter?
- On the reverse, below the eagle. Philadelphia quarters have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is S, for San Francisco.
- Which San Francisco dates near 1861 are scarcer?
- The 1864-S at 20,000, the 1866-S, With Motto at 28,000, the 1865-S at 41,000, plus 4 more. So the 1861-S is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1861-S Seated Liberty Quarter coins were made?
- 96,000.
What to check on your 1861-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 1861 (4.9 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.
- 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 Quarter 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. 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. 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 1861-S
Output at San Francisco climbed to 96,000 in 1861, from 56,000 the year before. The next year it made 67,000 (1862-S).
The other mint made far more that year: 1861 alone came to 4.9 million, roughly 51 for every 1861-S. If you're checking a pile of 1861 coins, the S is the one to look for. In the whole series, its mintage sits closest to the 1852-O (96,000) and the 1868-S (96,000).
San Francisco struck the Seated Liberty Quarter in 24 issues between 1855 and 1891. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1864-S (20,000). Within the 1860s it's 14th smallest of 20, between the 1864 (93,600) and the 1868-S (96,000).
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 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 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 | 1861 |
| Mint | San Francisco Mint |
| Mint mark | "S" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 96,000 |
| 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 1861 Seated Liberty Quarter issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1861 Seated Liberty Quarter | 4,853,600 | Circulation strike | 0.1800 oz |
| 1861 Seated Liberty Quarter Proof | 1,000 | Proof | 0.1800 oz |
| 1861-S Seated Liberty Quarter | 96,000 | 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.