1852 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar. OC-1. Rarity-5-. AU Details--Repaired (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 design elements are sharply defined throughout, and the surfaces are free of sizeable marks. We do, however, note a curious matte-like texture and evidence of tooling, both of which help to explain the PCGS qualifier. Boldly retoned in steel-gray.Many economic, social and political upheavals were wrought by the discovery of gold in California in 1848, 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 that the United States was exporting more of this precious metal than it was importing. For the year 1852, for example, the reference <em>Coinage Laws of the United States</em> reports silver exports of $2,600,156 against imports of $1,846,985. Under such an imbalance it is little wonder that banks and bullion brokers had little excess silver to deposit with the Mint for coinage into dollars. It is even possible that the paltry total of 1,100 circulation strike silver dollars that the Philadelphia Mint struck that year was achieved on government account as opposed to at the request of bullion depositors.The 1852 has long been recognized as a rare issue, Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing (2018) estimating that only 65 coins are extant at all levels of preservation. Although not a perfect example, the offered coin represents an important opportunity for advanced silver dollar collectors and specialists in Liberty Seated coinage. PCGS# 6940. NGC ID: 24YR.
