1863 Seated S$1 (1863 Silver Dollar) PCGS VG8. Civil War Silver Dollar. This Civil War dated 1863 Liberty Seated Silver Dollar shows original surfaces and good, old-time toning. The coin is a mixture of light and dark tan with hints of sepia and rust. The devices contrast with the darker fields. The strike is strong in the central elements on both sides of the coin. The obverse shows Liberty looking over her shoulder to the left as she sits on a rock. In one hand she holds a pole with a Phrygian cap upon it. With the other she balances the LIBERTY inscribed Union shield. Thirteen stars are above, interrupted by her head and the cap, and the date is below. The reverse shows the heraldic eagle looking left. In its talons are the olive branch and arrows, symbols of peace and preparedness. At the top is the required inscription UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. The denomination written as ONE DOL. is below.

For some unknown reason, the Mint favored this John Reich heraldic eagle instead of Gobrecht’s magnificent flying eagle used on dollars of 1836 to 1839. Gobrecht’s obverse has also been modified. The rock is smaller, the scroll is enlarged, her arms are fatter, her female shape has been flattened, and she is made to hold a cloak over her elbow, covering up exposed skin in the interests of being “respectable.” The Mint Director, Robert Patterson said that these changes were necessary to improve striking quality; however, the relatively poor strikes that the design produced belie his words. In general the strikes, of all of the coins with these motifs the half-dimes, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollars have uneven, flat strikes. They are often weak on Liberty’s head and drapery and the eagle’s neck, wings and talons.