1891-O Seated Liberty Dime (1837-1891)
FS-501
Key Features
FS-501: O/Horizontal O - primary mintmark punched over earlier horizontal O [Cross-ref: F-109] Source: http://www.seateddimevarieties.com/date_mintmark/1891o_109page.htm Embodying Christian Gobrecht's classic motif, this run tracked early expansion, the Hard Times economic cycle, and the Civil War.
Intriguing History
In 1891, industrial America kept booming under Cleveland and Harrison, with the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 further swelling the nation's silver coinage even as labor unrest, from the 1886 Haymarket affair onward, exposed the strains of the era's rapid, often ruthless growth. This Seated Liberty dime, Christian Gobrecht's design that anchored small silver coinage for over half a century, was struck during exactly this period. This one came from the New Orleans Mint, the Mint's southern branch on the Mississippi River.