United States Seated Liberty coinage

The Seated Liberty portrait designs appeared on most regular-issue silver United States coinage from 1836 through 1891.

Another coin that appeared exclusively in the Seated Liberty design was the twenty cent piece.

[2] Engraver William Kneass sketched the initial design, but was unable to complete the project due to a stroke.

[3] In her left hand, she holds a Liberty pole surmounted by a Phrygian cap,[2] which had been a pre-eminent symbol of freedom during the movement of Neoclassicism (and traces its roots back to Ancient Greece and Rome).

Although it had fallen out of favor in Europe by 1830, Neoclassicism remained in vogue in the United States until after the American Civil War.

Around 1840 (the exact date depends upon the denomination), extra drapery was added to Liberty's left elbow.

[8] In 1853, the mint also placed rays around the eagle on the reverse of half dollars and quarters, a feature which endured for that one year only.

The Seated Liberty design remained standard on all American coins ranging from half dimes to half dollars for decades, but by 1879—the year after the Bland-Allison Act caused a drastic curtailment in the mintages of Seated Liberty half dollars, quarters, and even dimes until 1883, there was increased criticism and calls for its replacement, partially due to changing artistic tastes.

[11] Wendell Phillips admonished college students to "sit not, like the figure on our silver coin, ever looking backward."

This led to the new "Barber Head" design, approved by President Harrison in 1891 and which began minting a year later, although it too would soon be criticized for "blandness," leading to the Barber coinage's replacement by the Mercury dime, the Standing Liberty quarter, and the Walking Liberty half dollar, all making their debut in 1916 (the Mercury dime included the motto "In God We Trust," making that motto's placement on U.S. coins universal, as the motto was not on the Barber dime, due to space limitations).