1876 So-Called Dollar HK-54, Liberty Seated Dollar

Coin Details

Description

This commemorative so-called dollar (HK-54) from 1876 celebrates Liberty Seated. Memorial Hall, built beneath a 150-foot dome in the Beaux-Arts style, housed the exposition's art gallery as the only permanent structure constructed for the fair and survives today in Fairmount Park. Bronze examples of so-called dollars offer collectors an excellent balance of affordability, condition, and aesthetic appeal. The alloy's hardness produces sharp strikes with fine detail that survives handling better than softer metals. The U.S. Mint struck official Centennial medals designed by William Barber, while private firms produced hundreds of additional varieties. The Centennial group is the largest in the HK catalog. Barber's engraving style combined classical European training with American patriotic iconography, producing medals of exceptional technical quality. Harold Hibler and Charles Kappen spent decades cataloging American dollar-sized medals, creating a reference work that transformed a scattered collecting field into an organized numismatic specialty.

Rarity Notes

Examples of HK-54 are scarce among so-called dollar collectors. Post-Civil War era commemorative medals survive in varying numbers depending on original mintage and subsequent preservation.

Cross References

HK-54; PCGS #642134; NGC #850116