1853 H10C Liberty Seated Half Dime, Arrows NGC MS67 - Registry Set Candidate!

This would be a great acquisition for a sophisticated collector of type coins, since half dimes only carried arrows from 1853-1855. It could be a showpiece of a numismatist's prized collection, or one of several such pieces for a collector of means.

Due to the California gold rush, the vast amount of gold being mined resulted in the value of silver rising. Therefore silver coins became worth more than their face value and gradually disappeared from everyday commerce. After a few years of this, the U.S. Congress drafted and passed a new Mint Act in 1853 which lowered the weight of Half Dimes (as well as other silver coinage) in response to the change in silver value. This meant that the old silver coins still circulating needed to be recalled and reminted in the new, lower weight. Recalling the overvalued coins was difficult, since people were selling them to be melted for their intrinsic value. To announce the weight change, the U.S. Mint added arrows on both sides of the date, which made it easy for consumers to identify the new coins. The Mint turned out an astounding 13 million 1853 (with arrows) half dimes. This was the largest mintage of half dimes of the entire series, which was produced from 1794 to 1873.