1861 Half Dollar - 1861 Seated 50C PCGS AU58 CAC. This Civil War dated 1861 Seated half dollar is lustrous with light toning on both sides of the coin. The coin is a mixture of silvery gray, white and tan with the latter at the rims. The delicate shading and colors affirm the coins originality. The surfaces are extremely clean for the grade with no individual abrasion marks visible without the aid of magnification. The strike is above average with full details on Libertys head, the centers of the stars, and the word LIBERTY. The CAC sticker confirms the grade and indicates the coin is a premium quality piece that fully merits the grade assigned. 

Christian Gobrecht designed the Seated Liberty half dollar. The obverse depicts Liberty seated looking over her shoulder to the left. She balances the Union Shield inscribed LIBERTY with her right hand and holds a staff on which is placed a Phrygian cap in her left. There are seven stars to the left and six to the right interrupted by her head and the capped pole. The date is below. The reverse shows the heraldic eagle looking left. It is surrounded by the required inscription and the denomination written as HALF DOL. below. Dentils are around the periphery of both sides of the coin.

There were five varieties of the Seated Liberty half dollar. Type 1, 1839-1853 and 1856-1866 (resumed with weight standard of Type 2), has no motto above the eagle. It weighed 12.44 grams.

Gobrecht became the third Chief Engraver at the United States Mint. He was born in Hanover, Pennsylvania in 1785. His father was a German immigrant, and his mother traced her ancestry to the early settlers of Plymouth, Massachusetts. Gobrecht married Mary Hewes in 1818. One of his early positions was as an engraver of clocks in Baltimore. Later he went to Philadelphia where he became a banknote engraver. He invented a machine that allowed one to convert a three-dimensional medal into an illustration.

In 1826 Gobrecht did his first work for the Mint as an assistant to William Kneass. After Kneass suffered a debilitating stroke, Gobrecht did all the die and pattern work for the Mint. He became Chief Engraver in 1840 and served until his death in 1844. He was famous for his Liberty Seated motif, which was used for all denominations of silver coinage including the half-dime, dime, quarter dollar, half dollar and silver dollar. He also designed the Liberty Head gold eagle, a motif that was also used on the half-cent, the cent, the gold quarter eagle, and the gold half eagle. 

In its population report, as of October 2013, CAC shows 7 1861 half dollars confirmed at the AU58 grade level. Less than 4% of all 1861 Seated Half dollars certified by both PCGS and NGC have been given CAC stickers.