1858 Liberty Seated Dimes 1837-1891 MS63

History

The Seated Liberty dime entered production in 1837 with an obverse that carried no stars, struck at Philadelphia that year to the extent of 682,500 pieces and at New Orleans in 1838 to the extent of 408,034. Stars were added around the obverse periphery afterward, creating the Stars Obverse configuration that the 1858 belongs to. That arrangement ran until 1860, when the dime and half dime were modified again: the seated figure stayed, the stars were dropped, and UNITED STATES OF AMERICA moved to the obverse. The 1858 therefore falls two years before the legend obverse redesign closed out the stars type.

Details

PCGS credits the design to Robert Ball Hughes and Christian Gobrecht, the dual attribution reflecting Hughes's reworking of Gobrecht's original figure. The coin was struck in an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weighing 2.48 grams on a 17.90 mm planchet with a reeded edge. Philadelphia struck the issue without a mint mark. Dimes dated 1858 were also produced at New Orleans and San Francisco, giving the date three mint varieties.

Features

Liberty sits on a rock, her left hand holding a liberty cap on a pole and her right steadying a shield inscribed LIBERTY, with drapery falling from her elbow. Thirteen stars ring the obverse and the date occupies the lower border. The reverse places the denomination inside a wreath with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA around the rim. Die varieties for the series are attributed using Fortin numbers, and dates from this period commonly support long runs of them.

Notable facts

• The type carries neither IN GOD WE TRUST nor E PLURIBUS UNUM.
• PCGS describes the 1858 dime as a relatively common coin with a healthy survivor population, and MS63 and MS64 examples are plentiful.
• Like most Seated dimes of the 1850s, the date is very rare in MS66, making it a condition rarity rather than a key date.
• The well-known 1858 Over Inverted Date is a half dime variety and is frequently misattributed to the dime.