10243

1852 S$1 Unc Details, Improperly Cleaned, NCS. Li

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money / US Coins Start Price:14,501.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1852 S$1 Unc Details, Improperly Cleaned, NCS. Li
<B>1852<S$1> Unc Details, Improperly Cleaned, NCS.</B></I> Light steel gray and a bit washed out from a past cleaning on both the obverse and reverse. Moderate hairlines can be seen with a loupe, but this is still a decent coin for the collector who needs this very scarce date. This is an original striking and not one of the later proof only restrikes.<BR>The early 1850s were filled with change in America, the California Gold Rush was in full swing and a seemingly endless river of gold was flowing to the eastern banks from the hills and streams not far from San Francisco. Given this event, the price of gold fell relative to silver, so much so that the price of silver actually rose above the face value of United States coins then in circulation. This state of affairs brought about the melting of silver coins. Forced to act, Congress reduced the silver content of the half dime through half dollar, bringing the bullion value back below the melt value, and the mints coined millions of the new lighter weight pieces to keep commerce moving. The amount of silver in the silver dollar was left unchanged for traditions sake. Thus, few silver dollars saw any real circulation during the early 1850s, and very little silver was brought to the mints for coinage. The mintage for the 1852 silver dollar petered out after a paltry 1,100 slid down the coining chute. Certainly not many to go around, and finding any decent looking specimen can be a challenge for the date collector. The present coin is for the collector who can look past the minor imperfections and understand the rarity of this elusive issue.<BR><I>From The Dr. John L. Pellegrini Collection of Liberty Seated Dollars.</B></I>