The Seated Liberty Half Dollar was designed in 1839 by Christian Gobrecht. During the California Gold Rush there was so much gold being discovered that it actually drove the price of silver high enough that to cause people to melt these coins into bullion.
To stop people from destroying these coins, in February of 1853 the US Government reduced the weight of this half dollar from 13.36 grams down to 12.44 grams. To indicate the difference they added arrows next to the date and a "glory of rays" around the eagle. After the 1853 production run the rays were removed because they were causing minting problems. Then in 1856 the arrows were also dropped but the coin remained the lighter version at 12.44 grams.
This 1853 "arrows and rays" design was only produced for less than a year and there were fewer than five million originally minted. It is not known how many remain because many of them were still caught up in the melting practices of the era.
You can find the Wikipedia page for this coin here.
• High minimum order requirements
• Advertised prices not available for small orders
• Price gamification through long shipping delays
• Best prices only through wire transfers or Bitcoin
90percentCoins.com strives to be your best option for obtaining silver at the lowest cost for your investment stack. Our prices are better than pawn shops, coin shops, online dealers and even the big refineries. If you see a price that is better than ours let us know via our contact page and we'll see if we can beat it!
To stop people from destroying these coins, in February of 1853 the US Government reduced the weight of this half dollar from 13.36 grams down to 12.44 grams. To indicate the difference they added arrows next to the date and a "glory of rays" around the eagle. After the 1853 production run the rays were removed because they were causing minting problems. Then in 1856 the arrows were also dropped but the coin remained the lighter version at 12.44 grams.
This 1853 "arrows and rays" design was only produced for less than a year and there were fewer than five million originally minted. It is not known how many remain because many of them were still caught up in the melting practices of the era.
You can find the Wikipedia page for this coin here.
Specifications
Troy OZ Silver:
0.3599 troy oz
Silver Purity:
90.0%
Total Weight:
12.44 grams
Mint:
US Mint
Dimensions:
30.6mm x 2.15mm
Watch out for "Gotchyas"
Many of our competitors have policies that include:• High minimum order requirements
• Advertised prices not available for small orders
• Price gamification through long shipping delays
• Best prices only through wire transfers or Bitcoin
90percentCoins.com strives to be your best option for obtaining silver at the lowest cost for your investment stack. Our prices are better than pawn shops, coin shops, online dealers and even the big refineries. If you see a price that is better than ours let us know via our contact page and we'll see if we can beat it!
The fine print: We at 90percentCoins are not numismatists and do not focus on the nuances of
coin collecting or appraisals. Most of our items are common and circulated but when we find impressive-looking coins or other
items in our intake buys we prefer to list them as "Minty" and let the public determine what they are worth. You might find something even more valuable!
We do not sell graded or highly-collectible coins. We sell coins as bullion at or near the spot value for the silver they contain. Unless specifically stated, coins will be from random years or mint marks. In many cases photos are not of the exact coin you will receive but are indicative of the condition you should expect.
Our coin conditions of "Cull, Worn, Sharp or Minty" indicate the amount of wear a coin has and how "visually striking" it is as compared to most common bullion-quality coins of the same type. No correlation should be drawn between these terms and those used by coin dealers to describe graded coins that would otherwise sell at ten or twenty times the price. As an example, "Minty" should not be confused with a numismatic grade of "MS-70" or any similar designation. We do not clean coins, but some of our coins may have been cleaned before they came to us. We only value coins based on their Actual Silver Weight (ASW) or "melt values" and their relative scarcity, not by other numismatic or collectable factors.
If you are looking for collectible coins worth quite a bit more than the value of their silver content please visit a coin dealer. But if you are looking to build your silver stack with cool coins at the lowest price compared to their melt values, 90percentCoins is your best option!
We do not sell graded or highly-collectible coins. We sell coins as bullion at or near the spot value for the silver they contain. Unless specifically stated, coins will be from random years or mint marks. In many cases photos are not of the exact coin you will receive but are indicative of the condition you should expect.
Our coin conditions of "Cull, Worn, Sharp or Minty" indicate the amount of wear a coin has and how "visually striking" it is as compared to most common bullion-quality coins of the same type. No correlation should be drawn between these terms and those used by coin dealers to describe graded coins that would otherwise sell at ten or twenty times the price. As an example, "Minty" should not be confused with a numismatic grade of "MS-70" or any similar designation. We do not clean coins, but some of our coins may have been cleaned before they came to us. We only value coins based on their Actual Silver Weight (ASW) or "melt values" and their relative scarcity, not by other numismatic or collectable factors.
If you are looking for collectible coins worth quite a bit more than the value of their silver content please visit a coin dealer. But if you are looking to build your silver stack with cool coins at the lowest price compared to their melt values, 90percentCoins is your best option!