Liberty Seated Half Dimes:

Both Capped Bust Half Dimes and the newly designed Liberty Seated Half Dimes were minted in 1837. This was a new design from Christian Gobrecht, who was the Second Engraver of the United States Mint.

The obverse of the coin had Miss Liberty, in full figure, now seated, facing left. She was holding a shield in one hand and a pole with a cap on the end of it in the other. The only distraction to that symbolism was the date below Miss Liberty. The reverse had the denomination “HALF DIME” in two lines, enclosed inside a wreath with “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” around it. But this design was tinkered with throughout its run from 1837 to 1873.

In 1838 the Philadelphia Mint added 13 stars above and around Miss Liberty and this was continued through 1859. During 1853, arrows were placed on each side of the date to denote a reduction in the silver weight of the coins. Later the coins no longer displayed arrows at the date, but the reduced weight became the standard weight. In 1860, the legend “UNITED STATES OF AMERICA” was removed from the reverse and placed on the obverse of the coin.