1852 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar. OC-1. Rarity-5-. AU Details--Altered Surfaces (PCGS).
An exceedingly rare issue, the 1852 Liberty Seated dollar is elusive throughout the numismatic grading scale. This more affordable About Uncirculated survivor offers remarkably strong eye appeal for the assigned grade. The surfaces retain considerable satiny mint luster, and the reverse displays subtle semi-reflectivity in the fields. The obverse has a somewhat subdued, matte-like appearance that helps to explain the PCGS qualifier. There are, however, no singularly conspicuous marks, and iridescent retoning in champagne-gold and pinkish-silver enhances the visual appeal. The strike is bold to sharp in all areas with most features fully rendered and crisp. Many economic, social and political upheavals were wrought by the discovery of gold in California in 1849, including an increase in the price of silver relative to gold on the world market. By the early 1850s the price of silver was sufficiently high to preclude all but the smallest amount of bullion reaching the Philadelphia Mint for coinage into silver dollars. In any event, the Mint was content to focus on gold dollar production, most domestic transactions requiring a dollar-size coin preferring this increasingly popular type. Against such a backdrop the Philadelphia Mint struck just 1,100 circulation strike silver dollars in 1852. Long recognized as a rare date, Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing (2018) estimate that only 65 coins are extant at all levels of preservation. This is one of the few survivors that we have offered in recent sales. It is a coin that represents an important opportunity for advanced silver dollar collectors and specialists in Liberty Seated coinage.
PCGS# 6940. NGC ID: 24YR.

Estimate: $18000