Seated Liberty Quarters 1838-1891

Christian Gobrecht's Seated Liberty design first appeared on the silver dollar in 1836 and on the dime and half dime in 1837. The quarter was the fourth coin to carry it, in 1838, replacing the Capped Bust quarter partway through that year. Striking of the new quarter began on September 29, 1838. The figure was drawn by the painters Thomas Sully and Titian Peale, and Gobrecht engraved it. Unlike the two smaller coins, the quarter had its 13 stars from the start, because they were part of the master die.

The first quarters, from 1838 to 1840, show no extra fold of cloth below Liberty's left elbow and are called No Drapery. In 1840 a reworked Liberty by Robert Ball Hughes, with that drapery added, went onto three of the Seated coins, the quarter among them. The half dollar kept Gobrecht's figure.

Two weight changes produced the major types. In 1853 Congress lowered the weight of the fractional silver coins so they were no longer worth melting or exporting, and the quarter dropped from 6.68 to 6.22 grams at the same 90% fineness. To mark the lighter coins, the Mint put arrowheads beside the date and, on the quarter and half dollar, a burst of rays behind the eagle. The rays shortened die life and were dropped after 1853. The arrows stayed until 1856, by which time coins of the new standard were plentiful. In 1866 the motto IN GOD WE TRUST, first used on the 1864 two-cent piece, went onto a ribbon above the eagle. A law of February 12, 1873 set the quarter at 6.25 grams from April 1, slightly heavier, and arrows returned beside the date for 1873 and 1874.

Philadelphia struck quarters every year. New Orleans struck them from 1840 to 1860 and once more in 1891. San Francisco began in 1855, its first year of silver coinage, and Carson City struck quarters from 1870 to 1878. Very large mintages in 1876 and 1877 helped retire the paper fractional notes of the Civil War era. They left the Treasury with more quarters than it needed, so from 1879 through 1890 Philadelphia struck only small numbers, largely for buyers who gave them as gifts, and 1888-S was the only large issue. Full production resumed in 1891, and Charles Barber's design replaced Seated Liberty in 1892.

Obverse. Liberty sits on a rock. Her left hand holds a pole topped by a liberty cap, and her right rests on a shield crossed by a banner reading LIBERTY. Thirteen stars circle the border, and the date is below.

Reverse. An eagle with a shield on its breast holds an olive branch and arrows. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA runs around the top and the value QUAR. DOL. sits at the bottom. From 1866 a ribbon with IN GOD WE TRUST floats above the eagle.

Mint mark. Below the eagle, above QUAR. DOL. Philadelphia coins have none.

Telling the types apart. Check the date for arrowheads, then the reverse for rays and the motto ribbon:

Both 1853 and 1873 have quarters with and without arrows, struck before and after the weight change.

Things that cause confusion.

• No Drapery or With Drapery. On 1838–1840 No Drapery coins the area below Liberty's left elbow is bare. In 1840 both kinds were struck at New Orleans.
• 1873 Closed 3 and Open 3. On the first 1873 dates the two knobs of the 3 almost touch, so the numeral reads like an 8. The Mint then trimmed its date punches, and on Open 3 coins the knobs are smaller and farther apart.
• Twenty-cent piece. The 1875–1878 twenty-cent coin uses the same seated figure and was dropped because people mistook it for a quarter. Check the value under the eagle.

• Carson City quarters of 1870–1873. NGC gives 8,340 struck for the 1870-CC, the first quarters from that mint, all from one pair of dies. The 1871-CC had 10,890, and researcher Rusty Goe estimated 35 to 45 survive. The 1872-CC had 22,850, and its obverse shows a raised line from a scratch across the shield.
• 1873-CC No Arrows: 4,000 struck before the April weight change. NGC counts four verified examples and a fifth unconfirmed. The later 1873-CC With Arrows totaled 12,462 in two deliveries.
• 1873 Closed 3 (40,000 struck) and 1873 Open 3 (172,000), both without arrows. Many of each were melted once the new weight took effect.
• 1849-O: the Mint recorded no separate mintage. Walter Breen believed these coins were part of the first 16,000 delivered at New Orleans in 1850.
• 1842-O Small Date: struck from a single die pair. The 769,000 New Orleans quarters of 1842 were never split between the Small and Large Date.
• 1853 No Arrows: 44,200 struck at the old weight in February 1853, from one pair of dies with a repunched date. Many were melted.
• 1853/4 overdate: an Arrows and Rays coin with traces of a 4 under the final 3, probably from a die prepared late in 1853.
• 1854-O Huge O: an oversized, misshapen O that looks cut into the die by hand.
• 1856-S, Large S over Small S: the usual Large S punched over a much smaller letter.
• 1840-O With Drapery: 43,000 struck. Some come from a group of coins found buried in New Orleans in 1982.
• 1864-S (20,000), 1866 (16,800) and 1866-S (28,000): Civil War and first-motto-year issues.
• 1878-S: 140,000 struck, San Francisco's last quarter for ten years.
• 1891-O: 68,000 struck, the only New Orleans quarter after 1860.
• Philadelphia, 1879–1890: small mintages such as 1879 (13,600) and 1886 (5,000, with 886 proofs).
• 1855-S proof: NGC knows of one proof from San Francisco's first year of silver coinage.

Die varieties for the whole series are cataloged in Larry Briggs's encyclopedia of Liberty Seated quarters, and NGC's notes on individual dates draw on his die numbers.

• Composition: 90% silver, 10% copper throughout
• Weight and silver content:
  • 1838 to early 1853, without arrows: 6.68 g, holding 0.1933 troy oz of silver
  • 1853 (with arrows) to March 1873: 6.22 g, holding 0.1800 troy oz
  • April 1873 to 1891: 6.25 g, holding 0.1808 troy oz
• Diameter: 24.3 mm
• Edge: reeded
• Designer: Christian Gobrecht, after a drawing by Thomas Sully and Titian Peale; the 1840 figure reworked by Robert Ball Hughes