Seated Liberty Dimes

Coins / United States of America / 10 Cents Dime

Seated Liberty Dime Value

The seated liberty dime value ranges from $1 to $100,000 depending on the quality of the coin, which year it was minted in, which mint it was manufactured at, and its strike type.

1837 Liberty Seated Dime Obverse

1837 Liberty Seated Dime Reverse

1839 O Liberty Seated Dime No Drapery Obverse

1839 O Liberty Seated Dime No Drapery Reverse

1884 Liberty Seated Dime Obverse

1884 Liberty Seated Dime Reverse

Seated Liberty Dime Overview / History

The Seated Liberty dime series was produced from 1837 to 1891 and was part of a series of denominations including the half dime, quarter, half dollar, silver dollar, and briefly as a twenty cent piece. The Seated Liberty series of coins were created by the very talented engraver Christian Gobrecht and are considered his most famous design. The coins feature Lady Liberty modeled after England’s Britannia with the first iteration of this design seen on the Gobrecht Silver Dollar in 1836, with the silver half dime to quickly follow in the next year.

There are six notable variations for this coin, the No Stars Type 1 was produced from 1837-1838, the No Drapery Type 2 was produced from 1838-1840, the Stars on Obverse Type 3 was produced from 1840-1860, the Arrows at Date Type 4 was produced from 1853-1855, the Legend Obverse Type 5 was produced 1860-1891, and lastly the Legend Obverse with Arrows at date Type 6 was produced between 1873 and 1874.

The No Stars Type 1 features the matching obverse to the Gobrecht Silver Dollar and Seated Liberty Half Dime with Lady Liberty seated on a rock above the date, her left hand holds a staff topped with a Phrygian cap, while her right hand holds a shield with Liberty inscribed on it. The reverse features the denomination ONE DIME encircled by an open laurel wreath tied with a ribbon at the bottom and the text UNITED STATES OF AMERICA encircling the coin. The 1837 Philadelphia issue saw around 682,500 of these coins minted, while New Orleans produced about 408,000 Type 1 Liberty Seated dimes in 1838.

1838 saw the addition of 13 stars to the obverse of the dime. The stars remain on the obverse of this coin until 1860. 1840 saw the advent of Type 3 with extra drapery beneath Liberty’s left arm. The Type 4 modifications were created 13 years later to improve circulation of these coin denominations by combatting mass hoarding of silver due to the incredible influx of gold with the California gold rush. The arrows on either side of the date reduced the weight of each coin in an effort to match the price of silver by weight at the time. Type 5 retained the reduced weight but saw the removal of the stars and instead saw the text UNITED STATES OF AMERICA in their place on the obverse. The reverse saw a wided cereal wreath instead of a thinner laurel wreath. Type 6 saw an increase in silver content per coin and for the two years it was produced the dime contained 38.58 grains as opposed to the 38.4 grains of silver found in the Type 4 and Type 5 Seated Liberty Dime. Types 1-3 of this coin however contained 41.25 grains of silver.

ID: 30

Seated Liberty Dimes

Seated Liberty Dime Value

Seated Liberty Dime Overview / History

List of Seated Liberty Dimes by Year

About Numiis / Numis DB

Seated Liberty Dime Value

Seated Liberty Dime Overview / History

List of Seated Liberty Dimes by Year

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