VarietyPlus®
Seated Quarters (1838-1891)
For its first fifteen years the Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar competed in circulation with the Spanish two-reales piece, or two bits. It was not until the mass recoining of 1853 that enough USA quarter dollars were minted to supplant the foreign coins almost entirely. Mintage figures declined drastically during the Civil War years, since silver coins circulated only in the Far West from 1862 through the mid-1870s. An overabundance of fractional silver coins during the years 1878-90 led to very small annual mintages, these coins being produced solely to discourage speculation in what would otherwise have been proof-only dates.
This series has never been especially popular with collectors, though it has experienced more interest since the formation of the Liberty Seated Collectors Club in 1974. Collecting Seated Liberty Quarter Dollars by date and mint is a very daunting task, as there are many key and semi-key rarities. These include the low-mintage issues of the 1860s and early 1870s, the Carson City Mint pieces being especially rare. Only a handful of numismatists seek Seated Liberty Quarters by varieties, but this area of interest is growing along with the overall greater focus on variety collecting.
NGC will attribute Seated Liberty Quarter Dollar varieties included in VarietyPlus. Some desirable varieties include doubled dies for 1841-O and 1847, 1854-O with Huge O and repunched mintmarks for 1856-S and 1877-S.
While the Briggs reference is quite a good book, there is presently limited interest in this series by varieties, the few truly popular ones being listed in one or both of the catalogs recognized by NGC. Breen numbers are not used by NGC for the same reason, as well as its lack of adequate illustrations.
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| Denom. | MS/PF | Date | Fee* | NGC Label | VarietyPlus | Briggs | Fivaz-Stanton (NEW) | Fivaz-Stanton (OLD) |
 | 25C | MS | 1838 SEATED | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1840 O NO DRAPERY | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1840 DRAPERY | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1840 O DRAPERY | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1840 O LG O DRAPERY | $15 | | | Rev A | | |
| 25C | MS | 1841 O DDO | $15 | FS-101 | VP-001 | B-2 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1842 LARGE DATE | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1842 O SMALL DATE | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1842 O LARGE DATE | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1843 18/18 O | $15 | FS-301 | | B-2 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1843 O LARGE O | $15 | | | Rev F | FS-501 | FS-001.5 |
| 25C | MS | 1845/845 | $15 | FS-301 | | B-3 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1846/46 | $15 | VP-001 | | B-2D | | |
| 25C | MS | 1847 MPD | $15 | FS-301 | | B-3 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1847/47 DDR | $15 | FS-801 | VP-001 | B-2A | | FS-002 |
| 25C | MS | 1850 MPD | $15 | FS-301 | VP-001 | B-1 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1853/53 NO ARROWS | - | | | B-1 | FS-301 | |
| 25C | MS | 1856 MPD | $15 | FS-301 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1856 S LG/SM S | $15 | FS-501 | VP-001 | Rev E | | FS-005 |
| 25C | MS | 1857 | $15 | CLASHED WITH 1C | VP-001 | Rev F | FS-901 | FS-006 |
| 25C | MS | 1857 O MPD | $15 | FS-301 | | | | FS-006.2 |
| 25C | MS | 1853 ARROWS & RAYS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1853/4 ARR & RAYS | $15 | | | B-1 | FS-1301 | FS-003 |
| 25C | MS | 1853 O ARR & RAYS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1853 O/HOR O ARR & RAYS | $15 | FS-501 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1854 O HUGE O | $15 | | | Rev A | FS-501 | FS-004 |
| 25C | MS | 1866 MOTTO | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1866 S MOTTO | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1872/1872 | $15 | FS-301 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1873 CL 3 NO ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1873 OP 3 NO ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1873 CC NO ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1875 MPD | $15 | FS-301 | | | | FS-006.75 |
| 25C | MS | 1876 MPD | $15 | FS-301 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1876 18/11 | $15 | FS-302 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1876 MPD | $15 | FS-303 | | | | FS-006.85 |
| 25C | MS | 1876/6 | $15 | FS-304 | | B-6 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1876 MPD | $15 | FS-305 | | B-2 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1876 S MPD | $15 | FS-301 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1876 S MPD | $15 | FS-302 | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1877/77 CC | $15 | FS-301 | VP-001 | B-2 | | |
| 25C | MS | 1877 S/HORIZ S | $15 | | VP-001 | Rev D | FS-501 | FS-007 |
| 25C | MS | 1891 MPD | $15 | FS-301 | VP-001 | B-7 | | FS-007.5 |
| 25C | MS | 1873 ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1873 CC ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | MS | 1873 S ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1838 SEATED | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1840 DRAPERY | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1842 SMALL DATE | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1866 NO MOTTO | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1866 MOTTO | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1873 CL 3 NO ARROWS | - | | | | | |
| 25C | PF | 1873 ARROWS | - | | | | | |
*
In order to have the above varieties requiring the $15 fee designated by NGC, VarietyPlus service must be requested at time of grading. Designation Review service is also available for coins already encapsulated by NGC. For coins where the fee column is blank, no VarietyPlus charge is required to have your coin designated during grading. For coins marked $15, a $15 surcharge applies to the tier fee during grading, or a $15 fee applies to have the VarietyPlus designation added to any coin already graded and encapsulated by NGC.
References:
Briggs, Larry. The Comprehensive Encyclopedia of United States Liberty Seated Quarters. Larry Briggs Rare Coins, Lima, OH, 1991
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