Why did the production of Seated Half Dollars drop off dramatically after 1878? In 1878 there were 1,377,600 minted at the Philadelphia Mint 1878-CC 62,000 1878-S 12,000 Then from 1879 on to 1887 it never breaks the 10,000 coin barrier except for in 1881 when exactly 10,000 were minted. Most years were stuck around half that figure at approximately 5,000 1888, 1889, and 1890 all had around 12,000 minted each year. Finally the last year we had a Seated Half Dollar in 1891 there were 200,000 coins minted. Why were there so few made those last 10 years, and why are the prices so low for these coins with such low mintage numbers? This doesnt make any sense to me, but I know there is an answer out there. It would seem that by the guides these coins are extremely under priced with MS-63 example barely breaking the $1000 price barrier. Any seasoned collectors with any insight into this phenomenon? I may have to snag a few of these coins from these years to put up for awhile if they have a decent potential for increasing in value in the not so distant future.
I don't deal in Seated very often, so I can't help you with the pricing but I can contribute a little about the mintages. Do you have a copy of Breen's Complete Encyclopedia? Is so, it is addressed on page 408 under the heading Arrows Omitted (1875-1891). If not, here's a quite summary. The silver lobbyists pushed the Bland-Allison Act into law. The mints were required to purchase expensive domestic bullion and coin them into Morgan dollars. The reason being silver dollars weigh 26.73g and 2 halves weigh 25g. They had to mint so many Morgans that the smaller denominations' mintages were greatly reduced. Jesse
Thanks Books and Jesse. I knew there was some reason but wasn't quite sure why. So with that being the case, how many are estimated that may have been used say through the turn of the century through maybe the 20s? What I am saying is, in recent years after the ones who saved them aggressively passed or got into their elder years lost track of these coins and they ended up unknowingly back in circulation. Or does modern research still suggest that the majority survived much like early proofs?
Wow I am not thinking in complete thoughts and am having a hard time articulating the point I want to convey apparently. In other words are there any estimates or research that would suggest these coins ever went back into circulation for any reason after their initially being set back. For instance during the depression era I feel like people may have spent some of those middle date halves like 86, 87, 88, 89, etc out of necessity over collecting needs. If that makes more sense.
I don't think it was primarily individuals who hoarded these - they may have survived in high percentages because banks held onto them in vaults to meet their specie requirements. Silver dollars were the primary means to meet reserve requirements, but half dollars would have worked & been more versatile to meet actual usage in the late 19th century. That said, they probably didn't go into circulation until silver prices spiked and they were sold into collectors hands (1907 & 1964).
I'll point you in the direction of the NGC "Coin Explorer" for some more info on each date: http://www.ngccoin.com/NGCCoinExplorer/CoinDetail.aspx?UCID=24L3
Same. Reason so many bust halves were coined and why so many are in fairly high grade they were the major silver coin for bank transactions from 1804-39 there weren't any silver dollars made so many were stored in bank bags and vaults same thing from 1878 on with silver dollars they didn't make many halves then but most they did make were again in bank vaults the earlier dates were prolifically made and were the major circulating half dollar coinage until production stepped up again in the 1890s
The NGC "explorer" description for 1885 is the most telling: "The beginning collector armed with only a copy of the Guide Book might be tempted to classify the 1885 as a rare coin. After all, federal records indicate that only 6,130 pieces were produced in both business strike and proof formats. What the Guide Book will not tell one is that many business strikes were preserved at the time of issue with the result that Mint State coins are probably more plentiful than circulated survivors in today's hobby. Gems, however, are seldom seen."
I am unsure of estimated survival numbers, and will not speculate as to what happened to the coins after minting (as I really do not care), but do recall reading - perhaps in the WB book - that dates in this range were somewhat "saved", often by then collectors, because of the low mintages. This, of course, does not necessarily have to mean they were saved as UNCs. While now outdated, taking some time to read through the aforementioned book may help to answer your questions. Now from personal experience, I've generally never found most dates in this range to be nearly as rare as the mintages may suggest. They're relatively popular because of it, and if priced fairly regardless of condition, generally sell well, but there are other dates that may be less obvious yet offer a better mix of scarcity, value, and potential IMO.
I used to specialize in SL halves. I love these halves from this date range. Honestly, the proofs of this era are more common, (at least as seen by me, I have no idea about pop reports). But, I would believe most business strikes were also saved. Philadelphia by this time had a pretty thriving numismatic community, so I think the small mintages were only produced for them really. The mint would have probably not produced any business strikes save for east coast numismatic demand, (and things like special date presents and the like). The 78s is the brutal one. I never saw one for sale personally, and I knew all along it would have been my stopper if I tried to get more serious about a date/mm set.
One reason why the prices may be lower for such low mintage coins is because the number of collector is so low. Very few people collect the SL halves by date and mint. A few more might collect by date. Other than that the only people interested in seated halves would be type collectors and they would be more likely to select a more common date in higher grade. So even though the mintages were very low, there are plenty to satified the limited demand.
