Mintage Doesn't Tell Full 1878-S Seated Liberty Half Dollar Story

Numismatic News - Just when you think you have rare coin pricing all figured out, along comes the 1878-S Seated Liberty half dollar to throw you a curve. Actually, it is not certain whether the 1878-S is the half dollar with the unusual price, or the dates around it with similar mintages are not correctly valued.

For those who like answers for everything, this might not be the place to find one.

We do know one thing and this is the fact that the 1878-S half is a very, very tough coin. It commands high prices. In 1982, one brought $16,000. In 1988, the Noweb AU-50 brought a bid of $22,000. Although, these figures do not threaten to exceed the values of 1804 dollars or 1913 Liberty Head nickels, you realize that for three decades ago, those were significant prices.

There is a question as to how the 1878-S half became so tough. The way to begin to understand it is to take a look at the mintage. That number is 12,000. Back in 1878 in San Francisco, there were not many coin collectors to save them.

Certainly, when you combine a low mintage of just 12,000 pieces with the location and the year, there may be reason to question just how many of the original mintage might have survived.

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