Q. David Bowers
Business Strikes:
Enabling legislation: As earlier, plus Act of February 28, 1878
Designer: George T. Morgan
Weight and composition: 412.5 grains; .900 silver, .100 copper
Melt-down (silver value) in year minted: $0.724 Number sent to the Assay Commission: 846
Dies prepared: Obverse: 5; Reverse: 5.
Business strike mintage: 700,000; Delivery figures by month: January-October: none; November: 200,000; December: 500,000.
Estimated quantity melted: Probably over 100,000 under the 1918 Pittman Act and subsequent legislation.
Approximate population MS-65 or better: 1,200 to 2,000 (URS-12)
Approximate population MS-64: 6,000 to 10,000 (URS-14)
Approximate population MS-63: 12,000 to 20,000 (URS-15)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62: 35,000 to 55,000 (URS-17)
Approximate population G-4 to AU-58: 25,000 to 50,000 (URS-16)
Availability of prooflike coins: Semi-prooflike pieces come on the market fairly often. DMPL cameos are rare and are nearly all below MS-65.
Characteristics of striking: Usually sharp.
Known hoards of Mint State coins: Multiple bags were distributed from the San Francisco Mint in 1937. Other bags were released in the 1950s and 1960s. The Redfield hoard (1976) had an esti-mated 3 to 5 bags (from these earlier releases).
Proofs:
None
Commentary
Few people today know that in the early twentieth century the 1889-S was considered to be the greatest of all rarities in the Morgan dollar series.