1859-S

San Francisco delivered 60,000 dimes in 1859, matching the 1858-S figure exactly and tying for the lowest pre-Civil-War S-mint dime production. The mintage closes out the Stars With Drapery run at the branch and represents the final-year Stars obverse appearance on a San Francisco dime. The 1860-S that followed would use the same older Stars dies for one more year while Philadelphia moved on to the Legend obverse, but at 1859-S the branch was still working its planchet allocation under the original 1853-era weight standard of 2.49 grams. The early S-mint dime program ran small through the late 1850s, with the branch directing the bulk of its press time toward gold coinage; dime production sat as a low-volume secondary line, with the S mintmark tucked inside the wreath on the reverse.

Survival is genuinely thin. Most documented examples grade Good through Fine, where heavy circulation took the obverse down quickly on coins that did enter West Coast commerce. Very Fine pieces are scarce, Extremely Fine examples meaningfully rare, About Uncirculated coins distinctly hard to locate, and Mint State survivors approach apex condition rarity for the early S-mint Stars subtype. Greer treats the date as a recognized scarcity, and PCGS and NGC population reports confirm the steep grade-distribution drop above mid-circulated condition. Authentication starts at the 2.49-gram weight and the 17.9-millimeter reeded edge; the S mintmark on early San Francisco dimes is small and often weakly impressed, and altered-mintmark pieces (an S punched onto a Philadelphia 1859) require side-by-side photo comparison against documented genuine examples for verification. Die marriage attribution for the date uses date position relative to the rock and reverse die cracks through the wreath as the principal markers.

For collectors, the 1859-S is a true early-S Semi-Key with limited supply at every grade level and direct subtype-boundary significance as the last Stars obverse year before the 1860-S transitional anomaly. Circulated examples through Very Fine command material premiums over generic Seated dime pricing, and certified pieces in Extremely Fine and above require both patience and budget to acquire problem-free. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design, the 1860 Stars-to-Legend obverse transition, and the series' production arc, see the Seated Liberty Dime series history.