1863 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar. OC-1. Rarity-3-. AU Details--Cleaned (PCGS). The story of the 1863 mirrors that of most other post-1853 circulation strike Liberty Seated dollars. In order to discourage hoarding and allow the coins to once again circulate freely, the Act of February 21, 1853, reduced the weight of the half dime, dime, quarter and half dollar. The weight of the silver dollar remained unchanged, however, as the denomination was essentially a storehouse for bullion whose most widespread use was in international commerce. Indeed, circulation strike Liberty Seated dollars of the 1854 to 1873 era can generally be regarded as predecessors to the trade dollar of 1873 to 1883. There are some exceptions, most notably the Carson City Mint issues of 1870 to 1873, which saw considerable use in local commerce. As a rule, however, circulation strike silver dollars of the late 1850s, 1860s and early 1870s were struck almost exclusively at the request of bullion depositors who used them in international transactions. The most popular destinations for these coins were Liverpool, England and China. Some of the coins shipped to England found their way back to the United States, such as in payment for bales of cotton, accounting for many circulated survivors of scarce Philadelphia Mint issues from the 1850s and 1860s. On the other hand, virtually all of the coins shipped to the Orient were eventually destroyed through melting.<p><p>Demand from contemporary merchants and other bullion depositors resulted in a mintage of 27,200 circulation strike silver dollars in 1863. Survivors are elusive in all grades, both circulated and Mint State. Writing in the 2018 reference <em>Liberty Seated Dollars: A Register of Die Varieties,</em> Dick Osburn and Brian Cushing account for only 450 coins extant. Near-Mint survivors such as offered here are in the distinct minority among survivors, and they probably represent coins that remained stateside as part of bullion reserves. The surfaces are a bit dull from the stated cleaning, and each side presents a deeply toned finish. PCGS# 6953. NGC ID: 24Z6.
