1872

The 1872 Seated Liberty Dollar runs to 1,106,450 pieces at the Philadelphia Mint, holding the record-high production pace established in 1871 and continuing the closing-year strong Seated Dollar coinage. The 1872 mintage is the second-largest of the entire Seated Liberty Dollar series after the 1871 figure of 1,074,760. The 1872 carries the standard Christian Gobrecht obverse and the With Motto reverse that defines the Type 2 era from 1866 through 1873. The continued strong production reflects sustained Comstock Lode silver-bullion flow and steady silver-dollar demand in banking and export through the closing years of the Seated Dollar era.

Strike quality on the 1872 is generally above average for the date, with Liberty's head, the seated figure's drapery, and the eagle's central feathers coming up cleanly on most early-die-state coins. Most surviving 1872 Seated Dollars grade VF to AU from circulation in the early 1870s, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at EF and AU. Mint State examples are scarce above MS62 and condition rare at MS65 and above. The 1872 represents one of the most available Seated Dollars of the entire series in mid-grade.

The 1872 is a regular common date and a standard recommendation for collectors targeting a single late-Seated Dollar at minimum cost. Pricing trades at the lowest level of the entire Seated Dollar series at most grades alongside the 1871. The 1872 pairs with the 1872-CC and 1872-S as the matched three-mint 1872 trio, and with the 1871 and 1873 as the closing-year Philadelphia trio before the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 ended silver-dollar production in favor of the new Trade Dollar. Authentication concerns center on cleaning, polishing, and rim damage from circulation; certified slabs from PCGS or NGC are the standard purchase route at higher grades. For the closing-year Seated Dollar production context and the 1873 Coinage Act, see the Seated Liberty Dollar series history.