1873 50C Liberty Seated Half Dollar, Arrows PCGS MS65

Rare Seated Liberty 50c issue in premium grade

Take advantage of a rare opportunity to acquire a gem state 1873 Arrows Liberty Seated half dollar. A coin such as this is found only in the finest collections. This coin offers a sharp strike and rich original toning that blends copper and chocolate browns. A sophisticated numismatist will appreciate having this treasured addition to his or her collection. PCGS has graded 17 as MS65 with just 5 finer.

While the 1873 Arrows may be overall be considered a common coin, research suggests otherwise: that large numbers of them were sent in trade to China. Let’s take a look at some evidence. Firstly, there are quite a few Philadelphia Mint Liberty Seated half dollars that carry Chinese chopmarks upon them. The mintage of the 1873 Arrow was 1,815,150. However, PCGS and NGC have graded a total of only 971 original examples of this issue. That suggests that the 1873 Arrows half dollar was the subject of extensive export to the Orient.

The Philadelphia waterfront in 1850. Image: Public domain via Wikipedia.

 More evidence to consider is that the Philadelphia Mint was located in a commercial port city that was a leading international export center. F.M. Rose, who authored and published the first book on chopmarked coins, Chopmarks, in 1987, writes that Liberty Seated half dollars with chopmarks can be collected by date and mintmark. He also reports that there are up to 500 Liberty Seated halves available with chopmarks upon them.