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Welcome to the Liberty Seated Collectors Club (LSCC)
Gerry Fortin, LSCC Regional Program Chair
page 2July 2011
• 1785: Born in Hanover, PA (South-central PA)
• Clockmaker, inventor, die maker and engraver
• 1811: Moved to Philadelphia • 1823: Applied for Chief
Engraver• 1835-1840: Second Engraver• 1840-1844: Chief Engraver• Patterns, medals, regular
issue Liberty Seated coinage
Christian Gobrecht (1785-1844)
page 3July 2011
Reverses Half dimes and dimes
wreath and laurel, legend, and denomination
later wreath of agricultural products
Other denominations – eagle with shield, olive branch,
and arrows
Obverse Liberty in a flowing dress
seated on rock Shield symbolizes defense Pole with cap symbolizing
freedom (Liberty Cap) 13 stars = 13 colonies
Liberty Seated Design and DenominationsMinted 1837-1891
page 4July 2011
Minted from 1837-1873 at three mints • Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco
Five Major Design Changes• No Obverse Stars (1837-1838)• Obverse Stars, No Drapery (1838-1840)• Obverse Stars, With Drapery (1840-1853 and 1856-1859)• With Arrows at Date (1853-1855)• With Obverse Legend (1860-1873)
Liberty Seated Half Dimes
page 5July 2011
Complete business strike set contains 70 coins
Difficulty level: Challenging Key coins: 1846, 1853-O No
Arrows Semi-keys: 1844-O, 1863, 1864,
1865, 1866 and 1867 Die variety collecting becoming
more popular
The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half DimesAl Blythe, DLRC Press 1992
Liberty Seated Half Dimes
page 6July 2011
Minted from 1837-1891 at four mints Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and Carson City
Six Major Design Changes• No Obverse Stars (1837-1838)• Obverse Stars, No Drapery (1838-1840)• Obverse Stars, With Drapery (1840-1853 and 1856-1860)• With Arrows at Date (1853-1855)• With Obverse Legend (1860-1873 and 1875-1891)• With Arrows at Date (1873-1874)
Liberty Seated Dimes
page 7July 2011
Complete business strike set contains 114 coins
Difficulty level: Extremely challenging Key coins: 1844, 1846, 1856-S, 1858-S, 1859-
S, 1860-O, 1863, 1864, 1865, 1866, 1867, 1870-S, 1871-CC, 1872-CC, 1873-CC, 1874-CC, and 1885-S
Uncollectable rarity: 1873-CC No Arrows, Unique
Die variety collecting is quite popular!
Liberty Seated Dimes
page 8July 2011
Encyclopedia of United States Liberty Seated Dimes, 1837-1891Kamal M. Ahwash, Kamah Press 1977
The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated DimesBrian Greer, DLRC Press 1992
The Definitive Resource for Liberty Seated Dime Variety CollectorsGerry Fortin, http://www.seateddimevarieties.com
Liberty Seated Dimes
page 9July 2011
Minted from 1875-1878 at 3 Mints (1877/1878 Proofs Only)• Philadelphia, San Francisco, Carson City
One type for series Business strikes: complete set contains 4 coins, excluding the
super rarity 1876-CC Difficulty level: Easy
Proof strikes: complete set contains 4 coins Difficulty level: Attainable
No book on series and series not popular
Twenty Cents
page 10July 2011
Minted from 1838-1891 at 4 Mints• Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and Carson City
Six Major Design Changes• No Drapery on Obverse (1838-1840)• With Drapery on Obverse (1840-1853 and 1856-1865)• With Arrows and Rays (1853)• With Arrows (1854-1855)• With Motto on Reverse (1866-1873 and 1875-1891)• With Arrows (1873-1874)
Liberty Seated Quarters
page 11July 2011
Complete business strike set contains 108 coins Difficulty level: Extremely challenging Grade Rarity: 1859-S, 1861-S Super rarity: 1873-CC No Arrows, 5 or 6 known
Liberty Seated Quarters
Key coins: 1849-O, 1851-O, 1852-O, 1853 No Arrows, 1860-S, 1864-S, 1866, 1869, 1870-CC, 1871-CC, 1871-S, 1872-CC, 1872-S, 1873-CC, 1878-S, 1884, 1886, 1887, and 1891-O
The Comprehensive EncyclopediaOf United States Liberty Seated Quarters Larry Briggs, 1991
page 12July 2011
Minted from 1838-1891 at four Mints• Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and Carson City
Six Major Design Changes• No Drapery on Obverse (1839)• With Drapery on Obverse, No Motto (1839-1853 and 1856-
1866)• With Arrows and Rays (1853)• With Arrows (1854-1855)• With Motto on Reverse (1866-1873 and 1875-1891)• With Arrows (1873-1874)
Liberty Seated Half Dollars
page 13July 2011
Complete business strike set contains 112 coins
Difficulty level: Very challenging Key coins: 1850, 1851, 1852, 1855-S, 1866-S
No Motto, 1870-CC, 1871-CC, 1873-CC No Arrows, 1874-CC, 1878-CC, and 1878-S
Super rarities• 1853-O No Arrows - 3 known• 1866 No motto - Fantasy piece, Unique
Liberty Seated Half Dollars
page 14July 2011
Die variety collecting is very popular
The Complete Guide to The Complete Guide to Liberty Seated Half DollarsLiberty Seated Half DollarsRandy Wiley & Bill Bugert, DLRC Press, 1993
New Book – May 2009New Book – May 2009SF Branch Mint Die VarietiesSF Branch Mint Die VarietiesBy Bill Bugert
New Book – May 2010New Book – May 2010CC Branch Mint Die VarietiesCC Branch Mint Die VarietiesBy Bill Bugert
Liberty Seated Half Dollars
page 15July 2011
Minted from 1840-1873 at 4 Mints• Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco and
Carson City Two Major Design Changes
• No Motto (1840-1865)• With Motto (1866-1873)
Complete business strike set contains 43 coins
Difficulty level: Very challenging Key coins: 1851, 1852, 1854, 1855,
1861, 1862, 1870-CC, 1870-S, 1871-CC, 1872-CC, and 1873-CC
1870-S (9 known – not a regular issue)
Liberty Seated Dollars
page 16July 2011
1851 and 1852 are usually show-stoppers 1858 is a proof only issue that is highly
valued Die variety collecting is not popular
Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States (Volume One)Q. David Bowers, Bowers and Merena Galleries, 1993
Liberty Seated Dollars
page 17July 2011
Thematic Liberty Seated designed influenced by William Barber
Issued for trade with the Orient Minted from 1873-1885 1878-P to 1885 are proofs only One type for series Heavily counterfeited in China A few major varieties
1875-S/CC
Trade Dollars
page 18July 2011
Complete business strike set contains 17 coins
Difficulty level: Attainable Key coin: 1878-CC 1878-1883 proof-only coins often added to
the business strike set 1884 and 1885 proofs are extreme rarities
and not regular issues
Trade Dollars
page 19July 2011
Die variety collecting is becoming more popular
Chopmarked (counter-stamped Oriental characters) collecting is also becoming more popular
Modern Chinese counterfeitsSilver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States (Volume One)Q. David Bowers, Bowers and Merena Galleries, 1993
The United StatesTrade DollarJohn Willem, Whitman Publishing,1965
Trade Dollars
page 20July 2011
Dues are $20 per year.
Three issues of The Gobrecht Journal are published annually
Monthly issues of The E-Gobrecht are emailed free
Liberty Seated Collectors Club
Web Site: http://www.lsccweb.org
John McCloskey, President and Editor
Club Membership: Len Augsburger, Secretary-Treasurer
page 21July 2011
• E-Gobrecht– Free monthly electronic newsletter available to
all– 2006 and 2008 ANA “Best Electronic Publication”– Subscribe via Bill Bugert at [email protected]
• LSCC Website– http://www.lsccweb.org
– Gobrecht Journal index, issues #1 - #99– Free chat board– E-Gobrecht archives
• Gerry Fortin’s Liberty Seated Dime Web-Book– http://www.seateddimevarieties.com
Electronic Resources
Welcome to the Barber Coin Collectors’ Society (BCCS)
John Frost, BCCS Regional Program Chair
page 23July 2011
Barber Coin Collectors’ Society
• Collectors of coins designed by Charles E. Barber– Chief Engraver of the U.S.
Mint 1880-1917
• 4 series– Liberty Head (Barber) Dimes– Barber Quarters– Barber Halves– Liberty Nickels
page 24July 2011
Barber Dimes 1892-1916
• 74 regular issues (dates and mints)
• All but a few dates are readily available in lower grades
– Most 20th-century dates readily available in all grades
• Coins stand up well to wear and look decent down to VG
• Key date: 1895-O (mintage 440,000)
• Semi-keys: 1895, 1892-S, 1901-S, 1903-S, 1904-S, others
• Complete sets very achievable
page 25July 2011
1894-S Barber DimeOne of the top classic U.S. Rarities!
• Only 24 coins struck
• Mysterious origin
• 9 confirmed specimens known
• 2 circulated (both ~ Good)
• 15 unaccounted for, and presumed circulated and lost
• Finest known (Proof 66) sold for $1.9 million in 2007!
page 26July 2011
Barber Quarters 1892-1916
• Most often available AG-G
– Although less so now! (silver melt)
• Mid-grade (F-XF) sets very hard to complete
• Many semi-keys nearly impossible to find in better circulated grades
• Uncs often available for a price (except for a few dates)
• Original coins getting impossible to find
page 27July 2011
The “Big 3” – Can be budget busters
• 1896-S (188,039)– Roughly as tough as 1895-O dime– Available AG-VG, scarce finer
• 1901-S (72,664)– King of 20th Century regular silver– Available Fair-Good, rare Fine-Unc
• 1913-S (40,000)– Lowest 20th Century Mintage– Available Ugly Fair to VG, and
UNC– Rare Fine-VF, very rare XF-AU
Many people now build sets minus the 1901-S (or all 3)
page 28July 2011
Barber Halves 1892-1915
• No show stoppers!
– Easiest set to complete in G-VG
• Low grade keys:– 1892-O (390,000) and 1892-S– 1897-O and 1897-S are next
• High grade keys are different!– 1904-S by a good margin– 1901-S and 1896-O are next
• 1904-S is the rarest regular issue Barber coin in Mint State
Why?Why?
page 29July 2011
Low-mintage dates!
• 1910 – 418,000• 1913 – 188,000• 1915 – 138,000• 1914 – 124,430
• 1910 less than 1909-S VDB, but VG = $30!
• Touted as rare, but hoarded in G-VG• All of these are ALWAYS available in lower
grades• In high grades, they are all tough
page 30July 2011
1892-O Micro O
• Reverse die with Mintmark intended for the quarter
• Error apparently realized quickly and die replaced
• Variety discovered 1893• Only 40-55 known• Most often seen AG-G, or Unc
page 31July 2011
Liberty Nickels 1883-1912
• Charles Barber’s first coin
• Entirely made in Philadelphia except final year 1912 (D,S)
• 33 dates and mints
• A couple of keys, and few tough dates otherwise
• Ended with unauthorized clandestine issue in 1913
page 32July 2011
Key dates and collecting the series
• 1885 is the undisputed key– Usually in ugly Fair-AG– Proofs more common than VF-
Unc
• 1886 and 1912-S are next– Mainly exist in low grades
• Most dates common all grades
• Completing series is very doable
• More people are collecting the Proof series (31 coins)
• Many collect by type: 1883 without and with CENTS
page 33July 2011
BCCS – Barber Coin Collectors’ Society
• Founded 1987
• Dues: $15 per year
• The Journal published 4 times per year
• Varieties Census studies to begin in 2012
• Website -- www.BarberCoins.org
page 34July 2011
BCCS – Resources
• www.BarberCoins.org– Grading Barber coins– Authentication of “Big 3”
quarters– Census and Rarity Ratings of
each date in each grade– Articles and images, patterns,
medals, and counterfeits– Meeting notices
• Online “Complete Guide” books– www.stellacoinnews.com
