1862-S 50C Liberty Seated Half Dollar PCGS MS63

Here is an appealing and rare example to include in your collection. Scarce in circulated grades, Liberty Seated halves become rare in mint state grades. Why is that? Because Liberty Seated half dollars were sent to China in massive numbers for trade. 

Let’s examine some compelling circumstantial evidence. In 1862, the San Francisco Mint struck 1,352,000 half dollars. PCGS has graded 348 original examples, while NGC has graded 184 of them. The total of 532 represents a miniscule 0.03934 percent of the total mintage, indicating that an enormous amount of them indeed were shipped off to the Orient. PCGS has graded 14 as MS63 with 16 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $3,500.00 in MS63.

A chopmarked 1857-S Liberty Seated half dollar, offering compelling evidence of such coins serving in the China trade. Photo: Heritage Auctions.

In a 2008 article in Numismatic News, journalist Paul M. Green writes, “as the largest silver denomination in regular production in San Francisco, … half dollars were exported. We have proof as they were found in China and … had chopmarks from merchants there.” Green concludes, “the indication is very clear that San Francisco half dollars from 1860 through the early 1870s regularly sailed west to China and that makes their mintage suspect as indications of current availability.”

In a later article from 2011 in Numismatic News, Green writes, “The clear suggestion is that long before the Trade dollar, Seated Liberty half dollars were being sent to China and that sort of export use may help to explain why half dollar mintages during the period remained higher than other silver denominations.”