I recently bought an AU-50 1861-s Seated Liberty Half Dollar. When comparing the mintmark to other coins of the same date on EBAY, i noticed mine appears to have a smaller mint mark. To be more specific, its what i consider a medium mintmark. The S should be the same size as a 1862-s that i have but it is noticeably smaller. It is also larger than a 1877-s that i have. I will try and post a pic. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks
Frank
PS: Photo on left is 1861-s. Photo on right is 1862-s
Do you see a differance?
Full Version: 1861-S Seated Half Dollar
According to Breen's guide, if it is a medium S it is somewhat scarcer than the large S. It is number 4908, and the S is listed as 0.055" or 1.4 mm. The large S is listed as 0.065" or 1.65 mm. The large S is apparently made from left over dies from 1856, and the medium S is from 2 reverse dies from 1858.
The 1862-S is listed as 4910 Large S, and is common. Both 1861 and 1862 have large and medium S mintmarks, but 1862 also has a small broad S which is very rare. It's interesting to note that differences in mintmark placement, and size varied quite a bit up into the early 20th century. In any case, if you paid a large S price for what appears to be a medium S, you did well. Nice coin.
Also, welcome to CoinPeople, enjoy your stay.
The 1862-S is listed as 4910 Large S, and is common. Both 1861 and 1862 have large and medium S mintmarks, but 1862 also has a small broad S which is very rare. It's interesting to note that differences in mintmark placement, and size varied quite a bit up into the early 20th century. In any case, if you paid a large S price for what appears to be a medium S, you did well. Nice coin.
Also, welcome to CoinPeople, enjoy your stay.
QUOTE(Vfox @ Feb 8 2008, 11:14 PM) 
According to Breen's guide, if it is a medium S it is somewhat scarcer than the large S. It is number 4908, and the S is listed as 0.055" or 1.4 mm. The large S is listed as 0.065" or 1.65 mm. The large S is apparently made from left over dies from 1856, and the medium S is from 2 reverse dies from 1858.
The 1862-S is listed as 4910 Large S, and is common. Both 1861 and 1862 have large and medium S mintmarks, but 1862 also has a small broad S which is very rare. It's interesting to note that differences in mintmark placement, and size varied quite a bit up into the early 20th century. In any case, if you paid a large S price for what appears to be a medium S, you did well. Nice coin.
Also, welcome to CoinPeople, enjoy your stay.
The 1862-S is listed as 4910 Large S, and is common. Both 1861 and 1862 have large and medium S mintmarks, but 1862 also has a small broad S which is very rare. It's interesting to note that differences in mintmark placement, and size varied quite a bit up into the early 20th century. In any case, if you paid a large S price for what appears to be a medium S, you did well. Nice coin.
Also, welcome to CoinPeople, enjoy your stay.
Thanks Vfox!
You are the first person to know anything about this. I looked on the internet for info, but couldnt find anything. How much more is it worth? Thanks again
Frank
After checking my books, heritage's auction archives, and the net in general I was not able to find any for sale, or that were sold. I can't really offer any hint to what price it should bring. The large S ranges from 180-210 in uncleaned Au-50 according to my consumer books, something like half to three quarters that for blue book. But as I said, that is for the large S, not the medium. Ask around the forum a bit, Matt (Lostducthman) may have an answer, he deals with more rare and unusual varieties than most of us do. Good luck!
This is a "lo-fi" version of our main content. To view the full version with more information, formatting and images, please click here.