PCGS PR63 1881-P PROOF Seated Liberty US Silver Half Dollar Mintage 975 toned!

PCGS PR63 1881-P PROOF Seated Liberty US Silver Half Dollar Mintage 975 toned!

The Seated Liberty portrait designs appeared on most regular-issue silver United States coinage from 1836 through 1891. The denominations which featured the Goddess of Liberty in a Seated Liberty design included the half dime, the dime, the quarter, the half dollar, and until 1873 the silver dollar. Another coin that appeared exclusively in the Seated Liberty design was the twenty cent piece. This coin was produced from 1875 to 1878, and was discontinued because it looked very similar to the quarter. Seated Liberty coinage was minted at the main United States Mint in Philadelphia, as well as the branch mints in New Orleans, San Francisco, and Carson City.

Mint Director R. M. Patterson sought to change U.S. coinage as early as 1835 from using bust-style designs to something closer to British copper coinage of the era. Engraver William Kneass sketched the initial design, but was unable to complete the project due to a stroke. The design was drawn by Thomas Sully and Titian Peale, and the final engraved design was made by Mint engraver Christian Gobrecht.

The basic obverse design of the Seated Liberty coinage consisted of the figure of Liberty clad in a flowing dress and seated upon a rock. In her left hand, she holds a Liberty pole surmounted by a Phrygian cap, which had been a pre-eminent symbol of freedom during the movement of Neoclassicism (and traces its roots back to Ancient Greece and Rome). Although it had fallen out of favor in Europe by 1830, Neoclassicism remained in vogue in the United States until after the American Civil War. Liberty's right hand rested on the top corner of a striped shield with a diagonal banner inscribed with the word "Liberty". The shield represented preparedness in the defense of freedom. The date of the coin appeared on the bottom below Liberty.

The basic reverse design of Seated Liberty coins depended on the denomination. The size of half dimes and dimes necessitated a smaller array of elements. On these coins, the reverse consistently featured a wreath around the words "half dime" or "one dime". Before 1860, this wreath consisted of laurel leaves, a traditional Neoclassical image, but beginning that year, the wreath was enlarged and was filled not only with leaves, but also traditional American agricultural products, such as corn and wheat.

On quarter, half dollar, and silver dollar coins, the reverse featured a central eagle about to take flight, with a striped shield upon its breast. The eagle clutched an olive branch of peace in its right talons and a group of arrows in its left talons. Above the eagle around the rim were the words "United States of America" and below the eagle around the rim lay the coin denomination. The design was a version of a John Reich eagle which was originally designed in 1807 for Capped Bust coinage, and redrawn by Gobrecht. Beginning in 1866, the coins featured a ribbon with the motto "In God We Trust" above the eagle.