One of only two issues in the circulation strike Liberty Seated dollar series with a mintage of more than 1 million coins, the 1871 sits just below the 1872 to rank as the second most readily obtainable issue of the Motto design type. Most of the 1,073,800 pieces produced were almost certainly exported to China (the destination for most circulation strike Philadelphia Mint Liberty Seated dollars beginning with the 1869 issue). Additional examples remained stateside and likely saw domestic circulation once specie payments resumed in 1876. The 1871 is readily available by Liberty Seated dollar standards, especially in circulated grades, however it begins to be scarce in the lower Mint State grades and is certainly rare at and above the MS-64 level.

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the July 2015 Baltimore Auction, where it realized $9,987.