1853 Seated Liberty Quarter With Rays & Arrows

A very nice example of a single year, circulated quarter you have there! The 1853 is my favorite quarter and half for the seated series, I love the design and like the uniqueness of a single year. (The 1853 half also has the arrows and rays for this year alone)

As for rarity, in higher grades (EF and up) the 1853 is worth more than your 1858, almost double. But with a quarter in well circulated condition, such as this one, there worth about the same.

There's an overdate variety with these also, an 1854 punched OVER the 1853, I believe the only year with a later date over an earlier date. This can be cherry picked fairly easily, and is pretty common in lower grades. But in higher grades gets valuable! An EF trends for around $500... I actually just got a great deal on one not too long ago at all..

Here's a close up of my EF 1853/4 overdate so you can see what to look for with the overdate... You can see the arrow after the date doubled, most noticeably on the shaft, and you can see the post of the 4 through the top loop of the 3 through the middle point.

The coin in the pics is a very nice G4 example.

A pretty much textbook G-4.

$15 is just fine. You have a good eye because its an honest circulated example. No cleaning or anything harsh to compromise the originality of the surface.

I noticed that most graded it G-4 and I was wondering so I've done a little more research on grading the Seated quarter and to attain a VG-8 it must have a "fairly defined rim and at least three letters in Liberty evident" it has a faint I but a (IMO) evident B-E-R, it's harder to see in the pics.

Are the rims not "fairly defined"? I know they aren't sharp as a high grade would be, but they aren't rubbed away either. I'm not sure what exactly that entails. Could this coin be a VG?

I would consider this to be VG-8 since partial liberty is present. G-4 in this series usually has the shield worn smooth but a clear date and good rims. 1853 is a little better than the most common coins but not that rare. People usually work on type sets of this series but don't really work on a date set since some of the coins are very rare and expensive. I would agree the reverse is G-6. I would just call it G/VG. As far as value, that depends on several factors including how fast you want to sell it. If it is part of lot you are trying to sell of to pay for it you may want it to sell fast and price it accordingly. If you are not in a rush, you may hold of for the average of the different guide prices. $20 for that coin seems fair plus maybe a little toward shipping. $15 was a good price for it.

http://www.pcgs.com/photograde/#/Seated25/Grades