Walter Breen
Third die: Parts of r. curves of mispunched 8's within loops of 8's, base of extra 1 below final 1. Extra outlines on OF AM. Rev. Normal or, later, lapped, incomplete leaves at lower r. Later, obv. lapped, effacing parts of extra digits. Discovered by Lester Merkin years ago. Rare. "Durham": 154; Garrett set. The later states with less and less of extra digits (or none) are less scarce.
Auction records have not been as high as on some other dates in the eighties because of lack of date collector pressure: 1881 is the only date in this period in which business strikes are common'.
Five Cents. [3575] Outline of ball broken near first 8; outline in upper loop of second 8 (fades); later, top inner r. berry detached (at 2:30). Left base of first 1 slightly r. of center; r. base of last 1 barely r. of left edge. Rev. without or with tiny rust pit on thick part of 5 at r. Same comment as to 1880 5¢. Date collector pressure accounts for most of the activity here. As in 1880, many of the better ones show beautiful pale blue tone, but too many also are spotty. Rounded rims are almost the rule.
Minor sets. [3575] Evidently 2600 outside silver sets. Most were long since broken up on behalf of collectors wanting the 5¢.
Dime. [975] Those seen lately are from lapped dies similar to the 1880 but not nearly so incomplete in appearance. Few business strikes available, so that date collectors and hoarders have snapped the proofs up. Some 675 minted in first quarter, 50 in second, 460 in fourth, total 1185; 975 went in the sets (see Silver Proof Sets, below), leaving 210 to be melted in 1881. Survivors therefore are from broken sets.
Quarter. [975] Low date slanting up to r. Minute recutting in top of lower loop of second 8. Shield point over r. foot of 1, left base of 1 minutely r. of left edge. Rev. Faint striae above TED STATES. Often found, when untampered, with an amazing rainbow toning, as on a minority of the better 1880's. Comparatively few of the 12,000 business strikes survive, most of them apparently being, per Murphy's law, deceptive first strikes offered as proofs; no recutting in 8, shield point over center of 1, left base of lover space. 1974 GENA: 1364, "Gilhousen": 723. These generally have less relief detail than proofs, and bag marks; but they sell today at nearly as much and sometimes more. But a real proof, once killed by a dose of cyanide, or lacerated by the scrub brush, or excoriated by abrasive pastes of baking soda or jeweler's rouge, naturally can be identified the rafter only with extreme difficulty. Drastic cleaning of this kind naturally impairs relief detail. I am aware that many dealers insist that toned coins do not sell. The history of New Netherlands, Merkin and Pine Tree auctions will provide ample refutation. Treating rainbow toned or blue and gold proofs this way is comparable to using sandpaper on human skin just because one is a little suntanned! And to the discriminating eye the results are just about as distressing.
Some 625 proofs were minted in first quarter, 100 in second, 420 in fourth, total 1145; 975 went with the sets, the remaining 170 melted at year's end.
Half Dollars. [975] First variety. High date, shield point between 18, left base of 1 left of center, r. base of lover center of dentil. Rev. The 1876 Type I die, split berry above H; sometimes with left end of scroll broken away. LM 3/68:670.
Second variety. Same obv. Rev. Type II, pointed berry; normal.
Third variety. Centered date, unpolished area at throat; shield point over tip of r. foot of 1, left base of 1 central, r. base of final 1 a little r. of center, extra outlines at stars 1, 10, 11, 12. Rev. Type II, normal. Later, obv. repolished, no unpolished area at throat; only one thin line of drapery. Business strikes apparently from these dies between earliest and latest proofs; most survivors are deceptively prooflike.
Same comment as to quarters. The majority are scarred from cleaning. Date collector pressure is strong, but then some toned proofs are sometimes sold as the rarer business strikes. The same remarks hold for quarters and halves at least through 1888.
Some 650 proofs were minted in first quarter, 75 in second, 350 in fourth, total 1,075; 975 were delivered with the sets, the remaining 100 melted.
Silver Dollar. [984] VAM 8, lightly doubled 18-1. Later, often hollow around engraver's initial M on obverse. Dangerously deceptive first strikes are numerous. Real proofs from now through 1904 have rims (outside beaded borders) broader than uncirculated counterparts, and these rims are sharp on inner and (usually) outer edges. Relief details are also sharper than on uncirculated coins. The key points for checking this are central curls, eagle's breast feathers, and details of wreath. Poor definition here, or any trace of frost in open field (not necessarily inside ribbon bow), should be grounds for rejecting the coin. Once again, poorly cleaned pieces may give trouble; in a few instances it is all but impossible to say whether a badly cleaned coin began as uncirculated or as proof. This reason by itself should be a deterrent to wielders of the scrub brush and the buffing wheel, but to date it has not been.
Some 700 proofs minted in first quarter, 40 in second, 349 in fourth; total 1089. There were 975 delivered with sets, but only 105 of the remaining 114 melted, leaving a discrepancy of 9 pieces. These extra 9 - three delivered with the 200 sets of second quarter, the other 6 at the end of the year - appear to have been individual coins ordered outside sets.
*Trade Dollar. [960] Only one variety seen; flat head and stars must be expected as in 1880. Obverse die retouched in partial repair attempt. Drapery incomplete at sea. Rev. Incomplete feathers at inner edge of r. leg, this rev. reused in 1882. The majority are victims of cleaning - usually more than one dose. It is odd and unexplained that fewer proofs were minted than the number reported of the regular sets (see below). Monthly reports of proof mintage are in Willem, but they afford no clue. Quarterly they break down to 475 first (i.e. presumably 25 of the silver sets then delivered lacked the trade dollar), 195 second (5 silver sets lacked the denomination), 35 third, 255 fourth (did 20 sets lack it?) If the answer to these questions is yes, then the extras of the third quarter must have been sold individually even as with the extra trades of former years.