1864 Half Dollar - 1864 Seated 50C PCGS XF40, CAC. Here is a really attractive, lightly circulated, Civil War dated 1864 half dollar. The word LIBERTY on the shield is bold. All the horizontal lines at the top of the shield are complete as are the edges of the scroll. The clasp on the left shoulder is plain. On the reverse, the eagles eye is sharp as are the lines of the shield. The coin is original, as seen by is variegated colors including silver, gray, tan, and blue. The abrasion marks are minimal, in keeping with the grade. The CAC sticker indicates that the coin is a premium quality piece that fully merits the grade assigned.
 
Christian Gobrecht designed the Seated half dollar. He 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. 

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.

In its population report, CAC as of October 2013, has confirmed 1 1864 half dollar, the present coin, at the XF40 grade level. Less than 3% of all PCGS and NGC certified 1864 half dollars have been given CAC stickers.