1847 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar. OC-P1. Rarity-6+. Proof-63 (PCGS). CAC.A rare and exciting early proof Liberty Seated dollar. Heavily mottled gold, olive, and blue toning engages both sides, but considerable brilliant silver shows through, giving this piece a lively, attractive appearance. The obverse motif is sharp and frosty, while the eagles feathers are mostly well executed. Highly reflective fields on both sides exhibit the expected faint hairlines, but none are particularly distracting and all seem the result of the typical poor handling of such pieces over the years. Solidly graded and attractive Choice Proof quality that is sure to catch the eye of advanced collectors.<p>The 1847 Liberty Seated dollar, despite its common date status as a circulation strike, is among the most infrequently seen of all Proof silver dollar dates of the 1840s, and any appearance is cause for note. Of course, all of the issues from that decade are very rare in an absolute sense. The mintages are unknown, but were small, limited to coins to meet occasional diplomatic needs as well as requests from collectors who at the time found the Mint Cabinet to be a focal point in the hobby. The current online version of <em>The PCGS Population Report</em> provides an estimate of just 15-20 coins extant for the Proof 1847, which squares with the estimate of 18 survivors provided by Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing in the 2018 reference <em>Liberty Seated Dollars: A Register of Die Varieties</em><em></em>. Our own Q. David Bowers takes a more conservative view and suggests that only 10 to 15 coins were struck (<em>A Guide Book of Liberty Seated Silver Coins</em>, 2016). In any event, the rarity of this issue is beyond doubt and, with offerings few and far between in todays market, interested parties are encouraged to enter strong bids for this endearing specimen.<p>Only a single die marriage is known for this issue, the obverse identifiable by the shield point being nearly centered over the upright of the digit 1 in the date. The reverse die was used to strike most original Proof Liberty Seated dollars dated 1840 through 1854. It is readily attributable by the presence of two minute die defects on the right side of the final letter A in AMERICA, as well as another, smaller die defect within the upper right of that letter that encroaches into the crossbar.<p>As a rule Proof coins prior to 1858 were not listed in the <em>Guide Book of United States Coins</em> in the early editions (and many are still not listed). However, for a long time the Liberty Seated dollars were an exception. Accordingly, collectors in the 1950s and 1960s sought early Proof Liberty Seated dollars but did not go after Proof half dimes, dimes, quarters, or half dollars of the same dates. When Mint Director James Ross Snowden commenced a program of secretly restriking rarities and patterns and creating new die combinations in the spring of 1859, Liberty Seated dollars were considered, and restrikes were made of a number of issues, most notably 1851 (from a die with centered date not known to have been used in 1851, perhaps unused from that era or perhaps made in 1859), 1852, and a few others. For many years there was widespread belief that Proof 1858 dollars, struck only in Proof format and to the extent of possibly just 210 pieces, were restrikes, but during a careful study of the situation in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Q. David Bowers, in preparation for <em>Silver Dollars and Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia</em> consulted many people and concluded there was no evidence for restrikes of that date. Perhaps they were too "new" in 1859 and were not yet considered rare.PCGS# 6988. NGC ID: 24ZX.PCGS Population: 2; 4 finer (all Proof-64). There are no grading events for this issue in either the CAM or DCAM category.<p>CAC Population: 2; 0.From our (Stacks) Treasures from the S.S. New York Sale, July 2009, lot 674; our (Stacks) Selections from the Estate of Louis E. Eliasberg, Jr. and Collection of Chester L. Krause sale, March 2010, lot 1139; our Chicago ANA Auction of August 2011, lot 7412; Heritages FUN Signature Auction of January 2012, lot 3309.
