United States 

Federal Coinage of 1853

All of the thumbnails are linked to 600dbi scans of the coin.

In 1853 there were 13 different denominations of coins produced from the copper half cent to the gold twenty dollar piece. Each denomination has a fascinating place in American history, and they come together nicely in the days of the California Gold Rush.

Gold Coinage was the lifeblood of the Gold Rush economy. Coins produced by the United States Mint were trusted by everyone to have their money's worth of metal, and were preferred over privately minted gold coins. The Philadelphia Mint produced most federal coinage used in California in the early 1850's, including the coins pictured on this page. In 1854 the San Francisco mint was established, and much of the gold mined from that point forward in California was produced into coins at that facility. 

1853 $1.00 G obv 600dpi web.gif (112927 bytes) 1853 $1.00 G rev 600dpi web.gif (105518 bytes) One Gold Dollar- At only 13mm in diameter, the gold dollar is the smallest of all U.S. denominations. Their tiny size led the mint to experiment with ringed patterns to make the coin wider without increasing gold content, but a more traditional planchet was adopted. Over 4 million gold dollars were struck at the Philadelphia mint in 1853.
1853 $2.50 obv 600dpi web.gif (228511 bytes) 1853 $2.50 rev 600dpi web.gif (236648 bytes) Quarter Eagle- $2.50 The first Quarter Eagles were struck by the U.S. mint in 1796. There have been several designs for this denomination, with this Coronet head design used from 1840 to 1907. Minted in almost all operational U.S. mints, these coins contain .1209 oz. of pure gold.. The 1848 "CAL" quarter eagle is among the most coveted of all gold rush coins. 
1853 $5.00 obv 600dpi web.gif (287563 bytes) 1853 $5.00 rev 600dpi web.gif (304827 bytes) Half Eagle- $5.00 The Philadelphia mint struck 305,770 half eagles in 1853. Each coin contained 8.359 grams of gold. At the time of minting, this coin represented nearly one weeks worth of wages for laborer in the east. But in the gold camps of California it was good for a hand of cards at a casino, or a meal and bath at a hotel. That's a respectable amount of purchasing power in a small coin/
Eagle- $10.00
1853 $20.00 obv 600dpi web.gif (815324 bytes) 1853 $20.00 rev 600dpi web.gif (938929 bytes) Double Eagle- $20.00 This largest of the United States coinage denominations was minted as a direct result of the Gold Rush. Prior to 1849 the largest denomination U.S. coin was the $10 Eagle. Because of the vast quantity of gold being mined in California, this denomination became an economic necessity. A single 1849 specimen was dated and struck that historic year. It now resides in the Smithsonian, but in 1850 mass production began and continued until the gold standard was eliminated in  1933.

Silver Coinage was a welcome source of accurate small change in the gold rush towns and cities. Because of the large quantities of gold being mined in California, an imbalance of the relative value of gold verses silver occurred. Silver coins became worth more than their face value, and as a result many were melted or exported for melt. In 1853 silver coins had their weight slightly reduced, and the weight change was identified on coins with arrows on the obverse near the date or rays on the reverse above the eagles. The liberty seated motif on the obverse was a design used on most United States silver coins for about half a century. 

1853 $.03 obv 600dpi web.gif (149772 bytes) 1853 $.03 rev 600dpi web.gif (156563 bytes) Three Cents- Also known as the trime, their diameter is a mere 14.3 mm, making them the smallest silver coin issued by the United States. Introduced in 1851 as a convenient way to pay the three cent postal rate, the coin's composition is 75% silver and 25% copper. Because it contained slightly less than face amount of silver, they avoided being melted and saw heavy use in the 1850's and 60's. I have always liked the obverse design which looks like a star of David!
1853 $.05 obv 600dpi web.gif (180635 bytes) 1853 $.05 rev 600dpi web.gif (162105 bytes) Half Dime- These coins are the smallest of the "Seated Liberty" obverse design. This specimen has arrows by the date to indicate it's reduced weight, and shows strongly clashed dies, resulting in some of the designs from one side showing up on the other side. If you look at the obverse lower left stars you can see some of the wreath from the reverse design. On the reverse below the word "States" you can clearly see the clash marks of the date from the obverse. 
1853 $.10 obv 600dpi web.gif (236778 bytes) 1853 $.10 rev 600dpi web.gif (232623 bytes) Dime- This is the "no arrows" variety dime, and is more rare than it's "with arrows" counterpart. I like this little coins original toning along the peripheries, with hues of gold and cobalt blue.
1853 $.25 obv 600dpi web.gif (418948 bytes) 1853 $.25 rev 600dpi web.gif (363262 bytes) Quarter- The arrows near the date and and rays behind the eagle on the reverse on this Liberty Seated quarter dollar were used to indicate the weight reduction by almost a half gram. The "arrows and rays" quarters of 1853 are unique to that year, because in 1854 only arrows were used to identify the reduced weight..
1853 $.50 obv 600dpi web.gif (615765 bytes) 1853 $.50 rev 600dpi web.gif (602410 bytes) Half Dollar- The arrows and rays on this half dollar indicate the weight reduction that year to 12.44 grams, from 13.36 in previous years. This specimen exhibits nice original toning along the rims.
1853 $1.00 obv 600dpi web.gif (981265 bytes) 1853 $1.00 rev 600dpi web.gif (1111595 bytes) Silver Dollar- These large silver coins were often called cartwheels in reference to their size, and the way light rotates on the luster of one of these hefty pieces of history. Seated dollars are beautiful representations of mint designer Christian Gorbrecht's Seated Liberty design, which graced half dimes through dollars for most of the 1800's. 

Copper Coinage played an important part of our nations monetary system from the first days of the U.S. Mint in 1793. However, by the 1850's the large copper coins had become unpopular due to their size relative to purchasing power, a problem especially acute in California. At times it cost the Mint more to strike copper coins than they were worth. In 1856 a smaller cent was introduced with a mixture of copper and nickel, and while compositions have changed, the smaller sized cent remains today.

1853 $.005 obv 600dpi web.gif (440825 bytes) 1853 $.005 rev 600dpi web.gif (342502 bytes) Half Cent-  The half cent was struck in the first year of mint operations, 1793, and continued until 1857. This "Coronet Head" design was engraved by Christian Gobrecht. The mint struck 129,694 half cents dated 1853 from a single set of dies. About the size of a quarter dollar, they were short on purchasing power in the expensive boom towns of gold rush California. Their unpopularity in circulation may contribute the the large number of high grade surviviors today
Cent- The Coronet large cent has the same design elements as its half cent counterpart, with twice the copper.

Disclaimer: I do not own many of the coins pictured on this website. My modest collection is kept in a bank safe deposit box at all times. I do enjoy examining and studying these fascinating coins and artifacts. If you have quality scans of California gold rush coins, artifacts, or assay receipts, I would love to see them for possible inclusion on my web site with or without a photo credit. Please e-mail to goofyft@aol.com. 

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