This listing is for the photographed 1876 Seated Liberty Half Dollar. AU (About or Almost Uncirculated) Details, scratched on the obverse as can be seen in the photos. Toned, with mint luster visible under the toning, especially on the reverse.
The Seated Liberty portrait designs appeared on most regular-issue silver United States coinage from 1836 through 1891. The denominations which featured the Goddess of Liberty in a Seated Liberty design included the half dime, the dime, the quarter, the half dollar, and until 1873 the silver dollar. Another coin that appeared exclusively in the Seated Liberty design was the twenty cent piece. This coin was produced from 1875 to 1878, and was discontinued because it looked very similar to the quarter. Seated Liberty coinage was minted at the main United States Mint in Philadelphia, as well as the branch mints in New Orleans, San Francisco, and Carson City.
The Seated Liberty design remained standard on all American coins ranging from half dimes to half dollars for decades, but by 1879 — the year after the Bland-Allison Act caused a drastic curtailment in the mintages of Seated Liberty half dollars, quarters, and even dimes until 1883, there was increased criticism and calls for its replacement, partially due to changing artistic tastes and perceived "blandness" — Wendell Phillips admonished college students to "sit not, like the figure on our silver coin, ever looking backward." This led to the new "Barber Head" design, approved by President Harrison in 1891 and which began minting a year later, although it too would soon be criticized for "blandness," leading to the Barber coinage's replacement by the Mercury dime, the Standing Liberty quarter, and the Walking Liberty half dollar, all making their debut in 1916 (the Mercury dime included the motto "In God We Trust," making that motto's placement on U.S. coins universal, as the motto was not on the Barber dime, due to space limitations).
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1876 Seated Liberty Half Dollar - AU Details, scratched, toned, mint luster visible - 1876 Liberty Seated Silver Half Dollar - Authentic