1865 50C Liberty Seated Half Dollar NGC SE Ex.SS Republic w/box & COA

Rare Civil War era Liberty Seated half dollar salvaged from the SS Republic!

Here’s a fascinating vestige of the U.S. Civil War retrieved from the tragic wreck of the S.S. Republic: an 1865 Liberty Seated half dollar. In addition to its S.S. Republic pedigree, the 1865 is a rare half dollar issue. In relation to its mintage of 511,400, there is a quite small graded population. In total, NGC and PCGS have graded only 436 original examples of the 1865 Liberty Seated half dollar.

Evidence suggests that before the U.S. Trade dollar, Liberty Seated half dollars, including the 1865, were shipped to China in significant amounts to trade for tea, silk, and other goods. After arriving in China, they were chopmarked and the vast majority of them were melted down and made into Chinese bullion called sycee.

It is graded by NGC as Shipwreck Effect. According to NGC, Shipwreck Effect is:

portions of the coin exhibit heavy to severe disturbance from saltwater exposure, with metal loss affecting the design. While accurate identification and attribution may be possible, it is no longer possible to draw conclusive determinations about the coin’s surface prior to saltwater exposure.

Painting of the SS Republic at full speed. Image: Wikimedia Commons.

The story of the SS Republic before its tragic end

The SS Republic, which was also called the SS Tennessee and USS Mobile, was a sidewheel steamship that had a fascinating history during its 12-years of service. It was built for James Hooper, a veteran of the War of 1812, who was the President of the Baltimore and Southern Steam Packet Company; it was constructed for him in 1853.  The SS Republic began its service as a merchant ship along the Baltimore-Charleston route. It later became the very first trans-Atlantic Baltimore steamship, sailing from England to France.

Later on, it provided the first passenger steamship service between New York City and Central America. In 1861, at the outbreak of the Civil War, the (renamed) CSS Tennessee was docked in New Orleans and was taken for use as a Confederate blockade runner by the Confederacy. After capture by the North, the Tennessee was operated for the armed Union service, as the flagship of the United States Navy Admiral David G. Farragut during the Mississippi Campaign.  September of 1864 saw it renamed the USS Mobile. That was in order to allow another captured Confederate armored-ram ship to bear the name SS Tennessee. The USS Mobile was later damaged in a hurricane near the mouth of the Rio Grande and was then sent to New York to be repaired. After being inspected, the ship was judged too expensive to re-commission and was removed from the U.S Navy in December of 1864.