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1853 saw the peak of the California gold rush. The yellow metal filled prospectors’ pans and helped change the world’s reliance on silver as their main currency. This year the United States sought to intimidate Japan into opening its doors for trade with the United States. Comodore Matthew Perry lead two steam frigates and two sloops of war came to Edo, later known as Tokyp, to force the country to open. The intimidation worked, one year later the emperor decided to open two ports to trade. Back on the home front, P.T. Barnum opened New York City’s Crystal Palace. This hosted many fairs and exhibitions. It was a large, beautiful structure of steel and glass.
Beginning in the year 1853, arrows were placed by the sides of the date of Seated Liberty Half Dollars. Also, rays were surrounding the eagle on the reverse. This was to show the reduction of weight in the coins. Half dollars from this point on would be 12.44 grams. With the new weight, silver coins would no longer be profitable to hoard or melt. Although there were new additions to the coins, the placement of Liberty and the heraldic eagle remained unchanged. The arrows and rays were supposedly added by someone on the Mint staff and not Christian Gobrecht himself. The 1853 Seated Liberty Half Dollar with rays and arrows has a mintage of over 3.5 million halves. This is an extremely common coin in circulated grades. Collectors should really take his or her time picking out a problem free specimen. The strikes can vary from this year, but good bold examples are common.
This coin can even be found with relative ease in mint state. Many have been certified and it is believed that well over 600 have been graded in mint state by the grading agencies. Specialists agree that the Mint did make a few proofs from this year. It is obviously a very difficult and rare date to find in proof condition. There are a few double die varieties known from this year. If you have any questions regarding the Seated Liberty half dollar or varieties, please contact any of our knowledgeable staff at 800-735-1311, and we’ll be happy to assist you!