1837 10C Seated, Large Date AU55 认证号39317030, PCGS号4561

Ron Guth

1837 was a transitional year for the Dime series.  In that year, the Mint retired the old Capped Bust design and replaced it with the Seated Liberty design.  This was not the first time that the public saw Christian Gobrecht's vision of Miss Liberty sitting on a rock.  In 1836, the Philadelphia Mint struck the Gobrecht Dollar, featuring the Seated Liberty design, but its release was so limited that only a very few Americans actually held it in their hands and viewed the design.  In fact, the 1837 Seated Liberty Dime has been nicknamed "Mini-Gobrecht" because of it's similarity to the starless 1836 Dollar.

Within the 1837 Seated Liberty Dimes, collectors have two major choices: Large Date or Small Date.  The date logotype on the former is considerably larger than the small date, it nearly fills the space between the base of the rock and the denticles, and the bottom of the date curves in roughly the same arc as the denticles.  The Small Date logotype is noticeably smaller and the top of the date is almost parallel to the base of the rock.  The 7 on the Small Date is nearly half the size of the 7 on the Large Date.

The Large Date 1837 Dime is approximately three times as rare as the 1837 Small Date and is more readily available in Mint State by a considerable margin.  The most common grade for the Large Date is MS63, with slightly fewer in MS64, yet with a fair number of MS65's.  In MS66, the 1837 Large Date Seated Liberty Dime is very rare and MS67 appears to be the best grade available (but only in extremely limited numbers).