1862 Liberty Seated Half Dime. MS-67 (PCGS). CAC.This richly original coin is toned in blended multicolored patina that includes shades of olive-gold, steel-blue and reddish-pink. Satiny surfaces are silky smooth in appearance with a sharp to full strike throughout the design. The 1862 is the final high mintage circulation strike half dime produced prior to 1871, the total number of coins struck in the Philadelphia Mint that year amounting to 1,492,000 pieces. Mintages at that facility plummeted in 1863 when silver coins disappeared from circulation in the East and Midwest, and they remained limited for the duration of the Civil War and throughout the early Reconstruction era. Mintages at the San Francisco Mint were always limited. The 1862 enjoyed an above rate of survival and even Superb Gems such as this, while scarce in an absolute sense, are plentiful enough to be of interest to high grade type collectors.
