Q. David Bowers
Coins come out of hiding: In his Encyclopedia, p. 468, Walter H. Breen wrote that 1875 business strikes are "rare," an adjective that has been employed in a few dealers' listings offering the date. Of course, the question can be asked: What is rare? Rare, scarce, or whatever, the 1875 is somewhat more available today than earlier believed.
Publicity given to this date seems to have brought some Mint State coins "out of the woodwork." In his 1980 study of the series, (Maurice Rosen. "The U.S. Trade Dollar Series: An In-Depth Study." Gobrecht Journal, March 1980.)Maurice Rosen suggested that perhaps only a dozen or so Mint State pieces were known (in all Mint State preservations), although publicity given to the 1875 in the mid-1970s has brought others out of hiding. Since then, more have surfaced.
In the 1970s, one of my clients stated that it took him three years of intense searching to locate a satisfactory Mint State specimen of this year. However, since then dozens of Uncirculated coins have come on the market, including some in higher levels, with the result that today the 1875 in Mint State has lost its awesome status. To be sure, it is rarer than 1873 and 1874 Philadelphia coins, but not that much rarer. At the MS-65 level, the 1875 is actually more available than the other two dates. (Also see under Additional Information below for "Marc Emory's Special Coin.")
Circulated grades: Worn unchopmarked specimens are scarcer than any other Philadelphia Mint business strike trade dollar. Still, somewhere between 750 and 1,500 coins are believed to exist in grades from VF-20 to AU-58. The vast majority are of the Type II reverse. In Henry Christensen's sale catalogue for the John M. Willem Collection, 1980, Willem's best coin of this variety was "AU-Unc." and was accompanied by this notation: "Type I is rare in any condition. It took Mr. Willem many years to find this piece."
Among chopmarked 1875 trade dollars, those of Type I/I are very scarce, and those of Type I/II are believed to be extremely rare. This ratio needs further study; it indicates a reversal of the proportion of non-chopmarked pieces.
Mint State grades: Today, I estimate that 10 to 20 1875 trade dollars exist at the MS-65 level, 25 to 50 in MS-64, 55 to 90 in MS-63, and 100 to 175 in ranges from MS-60 to 62. I suspect that I may be a bit conservative at the lower level, and more MS-60 or so coins may survive. Nearly all Mint State coins seen have been of the I/II type.
Maurice Rosen commented as follows: (Letter to the author, January 22, 1992.)
Finest known is the piece graded MS-68 by PCGS. I bought this coin at a Long Beach Convention in 1973 for $1,900. It later appeared in a Pine Tree auction (First Coinvestors) in November 1975, realizing $3,100 and going later to the famous Fairfield Collection, later auctioned by Bowers and Ruddy Galleries in October 1977 at $7,250. Reportedly, it changed hands near the $25,000 level during the 1980 market peak. I dare say, the coin was worth well into the six figures at the 1989 market peak and would likely still fetch a six-figure price today. I can still recall the hypnotic, dazed feeling I had back in 1973 when I first held the coin in my quivering hand. To quote a new popular saying, "It doesn't get much better than that!"Proof mintages: The conventional wisdom is that 700 Proofs were made, but there is a strong case that the quantity might have been 900, for reasons given above. Proof coinage commenced with 300 pieces in January, after which no pieces were made in February. In March 200 Proofs followed. By the end of September the total was 700 (or 900), apparently more than enough, as no more followed.
Sometimes slightly impaired Proofs are offered for sale as "Prooflike Uncirculated," to catch the unwary buyer who is seeking a rare Mint State business strike.
Proofs of the Type I and Type II issues: Proofs were made with the Type I as well as the Type II reverse, with the former being much the rarer of the two. All have Type I obverse. Presumably, some small portion of the 300 Proofs minted in January 1875 were with the Type I reverse, (See Walter Breen s Encyclopedia of U.S. and Colonial Proof Coins, p. 152, for a further discussion of the Type I and Type II Proofs of this year.) Out of nearly 60 Proofs examined by Walter Breen since 1988, only five were Type I/I, the rest I/I A few I/II. (Letter to the author, April 26, 1992.) Proofs have the reverse with long arc scratch described for 1873, now partly worn off the die. The last of these show die failure at eagle's leg and claws above 900. Others have a different reverse; both are rare.
In Henry Christensen's sale catalogue for the John M. Willem Collection, sold on September 5, 1980, the elusive nature of the Type I reverse was recognized: "The Type I is very rare." It sold for $5,000, as compared to a Type II reverse in the same sale at $4,500. The first coin was described as a "lovely Proof," and the second as a "splendid Proof."
Proofs well received: Proofs of the 1875 trade dollar seem to have met with a better reception by numismatists than did the coins of 1873 and 1874, for quite a few more 1875 Proofs are known today than either of the other two early dates.