I wouldn't call it an addiction...

Because obsession is the word that describes my love for 1853 quarters and halves. Damaged, cleaned, AG to MS, I'll buy any I see up if I have the money. To me, they are like women. I hardly see one I don't fall in love with.

Please feel free to post your 1853 A&R coins or any other coin you feel obsessed with!

 

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WOW! Mighty nice gathering of ladies. A fine collection and thanks for showing them to us.

 

Don’t fall for it, people. He just wants you to identify yourselves so he can get yours, too, and add them to his stash.

A stash I would love to have...

 

I have a number of Liberty Seated coins but no photos of an 1853. May I ask why that year is so special to you?

 

I totally get it. Rays and arrows are just plain sexy.

 

1853 was the only year with Arrows and Rays. (In this thread "A&R"). The arrows at the date and the glory of rays on the reverse showed that the weight had been changed. That is Variety 2. For the Half the weight was lowered from 13.36 grams to 12.44 grams. (The quarter was lowered in proportion.) The fineness remained at 90% = 0.900 silver; 0.100 copper.

Variety 3 for 1854 and 1855 had the arrows, but no glory.
In 1856, the arrows were removed. The lower standard was maintained.

Arrows were put at the date again in 1873 when the weight was increased to the current 12.50 grams for the half and 6.25 for the quarter dollar.

(It is all in the Red Book.)
(And, no, I do not have any Seateds. Not my thing. Nice coin, though.)

 

Sorry @Cazkaboom here are two 1853 Seated coins you won’t get

 

It’s an awesome coin. Mine:

 

I wouldn't worry. Don't think I can afford those gems. Won't stop me from trying though!

 

I'm coming for them all!

 

From my type set:

 

Your AU 55 Quarter seems to have better details than the MS 62 Half. Is it just the images?

 

I see wear on the quarter, but not on the half dollar. Although the strike may not be perfect, the luster on the half is pretty good. Can you point out an area where you see “better details” on the quarter?

 

I believe the differences are mostly due to strike and die wear. The stars on the half are not as well-defined as on the quarter. I don't have the reference works (yet) to attribute either coin and work on the die states.

 

I once had an addiction for 1857 coins. There were some crazy die clashes that year. I have about 30 coins in my collection for that year.
I learned a lot from it but quit when I could no longer cherrypick them. When all the publications came out about the clashes, it became tough to find anything.
It was a fun ride while it lasted.

 

Nice copper! Care to share the grade?