1861 Liberty Seated Half Dime. MS-67+ (PCGS). CAC. CMQ.

This breathtakingly beautiful coin really needs to be seen to be fully appreciated. Both sides are dressed in intensely vivid iridescent toning comprised of blended steel-lilac, salmon-pink, golden-olive and powder blue colors. Satiny surfaces are fully lustrous and border on pristine. The commencement of hostilities with the bombardment of Fort Sumter in April 1861 was followed by the appearance of the newly issued paper currency that would eventually become dominant in commercial channels in the East and Midwest throughout the Civil War and Reconstruction eras. Uncertainty over the outcome of the conflict resulted in the withdrawal of gold from circulation in the East and Midwest in December 1861. Even had gold remained in circulation, the financial needs of the Union war effort rose to such levels beginning in 1862 that gold coinage alone could not come close to the required levels. Financial elasticity was possible only by returning to a federally issued paper currency, the Demand Notes of 1861 followed by the Legal Tender or "greenback" notes of 1862. They were federal paper not seen in quantity since the American Revolution. Subsidiary silver coinage remained generally at par with the Demand Notes of 1861, which explains the sizeable mintages of half dimes, dimes, quarters and half dollars at Philadelphia in 1861 and early 1862. The Legal Tender or "greenback" notes issued in the spring of 1862, however, were not redeemable in either gold or silver and their appearance in quantity was quickly followed by the withdrawal of silver coinage from circulation in the East and Midwest after June of that year. With a mintage of 3,360,000 pieces, the 1861 was produced in greater numbers than all but a few other circulation strike Liberty Seated half dime issues. It has long been a mainstay of type collections in both circulated and Mint State grades. As with all classic U.S. Mint issues, however, there comes a grade level at which condition rarity replaces absolute availability in discussing an individual coin's primary selling points. For the circulation strike 1861 half dime, that grade level is MS-66+. In PCGS/CAC MS-67+, the offered coin is tied for CC#2 and is virtually unimprovable in every way.

PCGS# 4379. NGC ID: 2349.

PCGS Population: 2; 2 finer (both MS-68). CAC Stickered Population: 3; 0. The former total includes coins certified both MS-67 and MS-67+.

Estimate: $9000