In January of each year, I like to take a quick look through the Guide Book of United States Coins (aka "The Red Book") to see what significant anniversaries are to occur in the year ahead. The Liberty Seated coinage series are marking the most anniversaries in 1998 with a total of five; all are 125th anniversaries. Two denominations of the design saw their final year of production in 1873, while three others began production with a new design variety.

 200 Years Ago (1798)

• First year of production for Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dime (1798-1807)
• First year of production for Draped Bust, Heraldic Eagle Dollar (1798-1804)
• Last year of production for Draped Bust, Small Eagle Dollar (1795-98)
• Last year of production for Capped Bust, Small Eagle Half Eagle (1795-98)

• First year of production for Liberty Seated, Arrows at Date Dime, Quarter, and Half Dollar (1873-74) - Fifth and final variety of series
• First year of production for Trade Dollar (1873-83)
• Last year of production for Two Cent piece (1864-73); Proof only issue
• Last year of production for Silver Three Cent piece, Two Line variety (1851-73), as well as entire series (1851-73); Proof only issue
• Last year of production for Liberty Seated, Legend on Obverse Half Dime (1860-73) , as well as entire series (1837-73)
• Last year of production for Liberty Seated, With Motto Dollar (1866-73), as well as entire series (1840-73)

• First year of production for Indian Head Quarter Eagle and Half Eagle (1908-29)
• First year of production for Indian Head, Reverse Motto Eagle (1908-33)
• Last year of production for Coronet, Reverse Motto Half Eagle (1866-1908), as well as entire series (1839-1908)
• Last year of production for Indian Head, No Motto Eagle (1907-08)

• Monroe Doctrine Centennial Commemorative Half Dollar issued

• First year of production for Jefferson Nickel (1938-present)
• Last year of production for Indian Head/Buffalo Nickel (1913-38)

• First year of production for Franklin Half Dollar (1948-63)

• Jim Thorpe National Commemorative Medal issued

• Last year of production for Eisenhower Dollar (1971-78)

• Seoul Olympiad Commemorative Dollar issued

Have I missed any? The only way to know for sure is to get out your own copy of the Red Book or another U.S. coin reference and check for yourself. Who knows, you might discover something new about a series you collect while you’re searching!

ã Copyright Raleigh Coin Club   -  1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2002

The RCC grants permission to reprint any articles not copyrighted by the author for non-profit educational purposes only, provided the Raleigh Coin Club and the author are cited as the original source.