1853 Liberty Seated Half Dollar with Arrows & Rays in Good - Very Good Condition

PRODUCT DETAILS/DESCRIPTION

1853 Liberty Seated Half Dollar with Arrows & Rays in Good - Very Good Condition

The 1853 Seated Half Dollar with Arrows and Rays represents one of the most striking, short-lived design changes in U.S. coinage!

1853 Seated Half Dollar w/ Arrows & Rays

This half dollar will come in a 2x2 staple up.

REVERSE: Depicts a heraldic eagle with a radiant sunburst of rays filling the field. UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and HALD DOL. are inscribed along the top and bottom.

OBVERSE: Features Liberty seated with shield and pole, surrounded by stars, with the date below and two short arrows pointing outward from either side of the 1853.

History & Design

In 1853, Congress authorized reduced weights for most silver coins to keep them in circulation amid rising bullion prices. To make the change obvious to the public, the U.S. Mint added clear visual cues. Chief Engraver James B. Longacre preserved Christian Gobrecht’s Seated Liberty motif but introduced arrows flanking the date and a dramatic field of rays behind the eagle to mark the new standard. This specific combination defines the 1853 seated half dollar with arrows and rays and differentiates it from the later Arrows-only issues. Two main subtypes appear in 1853: the Arrows and Rays subtype (mid-1853 only) and the later Arrows-only subtype introduced after the Mint removed the rays due to striking difficulties.

Liberty Seated Half Dollars

Introduced in 1839 and produced through 1891, Liberty Seated Half Dollars underwent several notable design changes. Early issues feature the No Motto reverse, while later coins reflect modifications such as the addition of drapery at Liberty’s elbow (1839–1840), arrows at the date to signal weight adjustments (1853–1855 and 1873–1874), a brief appearance of rays around the reverse in 1853, and the addition of the motto IN GOD WE TRUST on a redesigned reverse beginning in 1866. These shifts divide the series into distinct types, making type sets both attainable and visually diverse for any seated half dollar collection.