Seated Liberty With Arrows Dimes 1853-1855 Coin Guide
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Seated Liberty With Arrows Dimes 1853-1855
All that glitters isn't gold-sometimes it's silver. This twist on the
age-old maxim was to plague U.S. coinage from its very beginnings. The
ever-fluctuating prices of silver and gold, coupled with Congress'
misguided coinage law and the Mint's internal problems, constantly
frustrated efforts to keep an adequate supply of precious metal coins in
circulation. This problem would last for years.
The bimetallic standard instituted by the Coinage Act of 1792 defined
the content of the standard gold dollar at 24.75 grains and the silver
dollar at 371.25 grains. In 1792, this 15-to-1 ratio between the metals
was in line with the world market. Within a few years, however, the world
price of gold began to rise. The United States's largest gold coin, the
ten-dollar eagle, was hoarded and melted as fast as it was minted. U.S.
silver dollars, containing slightly more silver than the circulating
legal-tender Spanish dollars, also saw melting and exportation, and even
the fractional silver coins were affected. The situation got so bad that
by 1804 President Thomas Jefferson ordered a halt to both eagle and dollar
production.
For at least a decade, except for half eagles and half dollars, which
were primarily used in bank-to-bank transactions, mintages of all U.S.
precious-metal coins were minuscule. From about 1800 to 1834, gold coins
were rarely seen in circulation at all, and only Spanish silver pieces and
fractional banknotes saw any appreciable use. By 1820 98% of the U.S. gold
coin mintage had been destroyed. Fifteen years would pass before gold
coins circulated again.
In 1834, apparently to appease eastern banking and southern mining
interests, Congress reduced the amount of gold in the standard dollar to
23.2 grains and changed the ratio to 16-to-1. With the prevailing
worldwide ratio at that time of around 15.6 to 1, this had the effect of
returning gold coins to circulation, as they were now worth marginally
less than the equivalent amount of U.S. silver coins. The higher value
silver coins should have gone into the melting pot, but a combination of
factors, including vast imports of silver from Mexican mines and the
return to circulation of U.S. silver coins that were formerly used as bank
reserves, forestalled the inevitable for a decade. By 1844, though, U.S.
exports of silver exceeded imports, and silver coins once again started to
disappear. A few years later, things would really begin to get out of
hand.
Following the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in 1848, thousands of
fortune-seekers swarmed to California, transforming it almost overnight
from a sleepy U.S. territory, newly wrested from Mexico, into the nation's
31st state. The "Forty-Niners," and others who followed them,
mined enormous quantities of gold, more gold than the world had ever seen
up until that time. The output of the mines was just too much for the
markets to easily absorb: Gold's price relative to silver began to fall,
and then, melting and hoarding of silver coins took on really massive
proportions. By 1853 it took $1.06 in U.S. gold coins to buy $1.00 in
silver coins. U.S. silver coins practically vanished from circulation,
leaving behind only an assortment of well-worn Spanish pieces and the tiny
trimes (silver three-cent pieces), which had a metal content well below
their face value.
Congress was ultimately forced to address the problem. Extended debate
ensued, mostly over the issue of debasing the coinage. Although gold coins
were effectively debased in 1834, many legislators ignored this fact, as
they vehemently protested lowering the amount of silver in the fractional
coinage. Finally, a compromise was struck. This was the Act of February
21, 1853, whereby the amount of silver in the fractional coins was reduced
by 6.9%, but the old standard was retained for the silver dollar as a sign
of Congress' continued allegiance to bimetallism.
The half dollar, quarter dollar, dime and half dime were affected by
this change. To facilitate the withdrawal from circulation of the heavier,
pre-1853 silver coins, a readily distinguishable change was needed; but to
maintain confidence in the nation's money, it was thought necessary to
retain the design of the coins then familiar to the public.
Since 1838 the motif used on U.S. silver coins was the Seated Liberty
design by Christian Gobrecht. It depicted Liberty, modeled after the
British image of Britannia, seated on a rock surrounded by thirteen stars.
On the dime, the reverse featured a wreath, with the inscription UNITED
STATES OF AMERICA outside and the denomination ONE DIME inside. Officials
decided to add arrowheads on either side of the date to identify the new,
lower weight coins. Mint Director George N. Eckert instructed Chief
Engraver James B. Longacre to modify the dies.
The first Arrows dimes were proofs, part of five sets made of the new
coinage. Regular production began in April of 1853, and the coins
literally poured out of the mints. Out of a total of close to 21.5 million
pieces minted from 1853 to 1855, Philadelphia made over 12 million in 1853
alone. Congress' plan evidently worked. For the first time in U.S. history
there was an adequate supply of federal silver coins for commerce. For the
most part foreign silver coins were quickly withdrawn from circulation and
recoined into U.S. issues. While many of the first dimes of this type were
initially hoarded, their appearance in vast numbers soon convinced the
hoarders to release their stockpiles.
The three-year series contains five date and mint combinations, as
Arrows dimes were minted every year in Philadelphia (no mintmark) and in
New Orleans (O) in 1853 and '54. Mintmarks can be found above the bow of
the wreath. The 1853 Philadelphia issue appears with the most frequency in
gem uncirculated condition, while the New Orleans issue of that year is
the rarest of the series, particularly in mint state. The 1854-O also
appears occasionally in high grade; a small hoard of about 18 pieces
turned up in 1981. In addition to the first 1853 coins, an unknown but
apparently tiny number of proofs were also struck in 1854 and '55.
While all five issues are collected by date and mint, the main interest
in this short series is from type collectors pursuing one of the five
major varieties of Seated Liberty dimes. When grading this design, wear
will first show on Liberty's knee, breast and head. On the reverse, check
the highpoints of the bow and leaves.
In 1856 Mint Director Eckert's replacement, James Ross Snowden,
directed that the arrows be removed from the coinage, as very little of
the old-tenor pieces remained in circulation. Seated Liberty dimes
continued to be struck at the Philadelphia and New Orleans Mints, as well
as at the newly built San Francisco Mint, until 1892, when the design type
was replaced by Charles E. Barber's Liberty Head.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 17.9 millimeters Weight: 2.49 grams Composition: .900 silver,
.100 copper Edge: Reeded Net Weight: .07204 ounce pure silver
BIBLIOGRAPHY: Ahwash, Kamal M., Encyclopedia of United
States Liberty Seated Dimes 1837-1891, Kamal Press, Wallingford, PA, 1974.
Breen, Walter, Walter Breen's Complete Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial
Coins, F.C.I. Press/Doubleday, New York, 1988. Carothers, Neil, Fractional
Money, A History of Small Coins and Fractional Paper Currency of the
United States, John Wiley & Sons, London, 1930. Evans, George C.,
Illustrated History of the United States Mint, Revised Edition,
Philadelphia, 1893. Greer, Brian, The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated
Dimes, Virginia Beach, VA, 1992. Yeoman, R.S., A Guide Book of United
States Coins, 47th Edition, Western Publishing Co., Racine, WI, 1993.
Coin Information Provided Courtesy NGC.
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