Ask the typical collector about the Seated Liberty coinage of the U. S. Mint, and they will most likely call to mind the mid- to late- 1800s pieces designed by Christian Gobrecht. Gobrecht’s design enjoyed a run of over 50 years (1837 – 1891), and was used for multiple denominations ¾ Half Dimes, Dimes, Quarter Dollars, Half Dollars, and Dollars. Today, the series is collected by an avid group of dedicated collectors, and choice pieces ¾ whether circulated or uncirculated ¾ are often difficult to find.

Some collectors may point to the short-lived series of Twenty Cent pieces or to the brief Trade Dollar series as other examples of the Mint’s Seated Liberty efforts. But few collectors are aware of the "other" Seated Liberty coins produced by the Mint, the Seated Liberty coinage with a decidedly international flavor.

The U.S. Mint produced its first coins for a foreign country (Venezuela) in 1876, and since that has produced coins for more than 35 countries. Among the many coin designs struck by the Mint are two different Seated Liberty designs, one for French Indo-China and one for Peru.

The coinage for French Indo-China was struck at the San Francisco Mint between 1920 and 1922. (French Indo-China was located in Southeast Asia, and covered the area currently divided between Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia). The coins feature a seated figure of Lady Liberty that bears a striking resemblance to our own Statue of Liberty (more properly known as Liberty Enlightening the World). The use of a design so similar to the Statue of Liberty is not surprising when one considers that the coins were first produced at the Paris Mint in 1885, just a year before the Statue of Liberty was to be completed and formally dedicated in New York harbor. The French were very proud of their gift to America, and so the Statue was a common design element of many period pieces.

The design was used on the One Cent, Ten Cent, Twenty Cent, Fifty Cent and One Piastre denominations, but production at the San Francisco Mint was limited to the Ten and Twenty Cent pieces plus the One Piastre coins. The Standard Catalogue of World Coins (Krause) lists the San Francisco pieces as KM-14, KM-15, and KM-5a.2, respectively.

Another U.S.-made Seated Liberty product is the One Sol pieces of Peru. These coins were produced at the Philadelphia Mint from 1923 through 1926. The design was introduced in 1864, however, and was produced by mints in Peru from 1864 through 1935. The design is very similar to the U.S. Seated Liberty design, featuring Lady Liberty seated with her body facing right, supporting a shield with her right hand, and holding a pole topped with a Liberty cap in her left. It does not appear to be too much of a stretch to say that Gobrecht’s design had a strong influence on the designer of this piece. The Philadelphia pieces are listed as KM-218.1 in the Krause catalog.

I’ll be bringing samples of each of the designs to the May meeting, so stop on by for a closer look!

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