Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia
Q. David Bowers
1890-S Morgan Dollar
Numismatic Information
Hoard coins: Quantities of 1890-S dollars were placed into circulation at or near the time of mintage. Many others were stored in the San Francisco Mint, from which location several million or more probably were melted under the terms of the 1918 Pittman Act. In addition, over a long period of years, occasional bags were released. As a result, the 1890- S is one of the San Francisco Mint issues that has never been rare in Mint State-quite a contrast to its 1889-S sibling.
In the 1940s and 1950s, many bags were paid out from the San Francisco Mint; so many, in fact, that this date became extremely common. Not having a low mintage figure to bolster their appeal, most coins slipped into circulation, where they quickly became AU and then EF. Still, many thousands remained in the hands of collectors, dealers, investors, and other buyers.
The Redfield hoard (1976) was estimated to con-tain 20 to 40 bags (mostly MS-60 to 62 in grade), probably obtained from storage at the San Francisco Mint (see John Skubis commentary earlier).
Mint State grades: The 1890-S is one of the more available Morgan dollars in Mint State, although it is not among the most common. Probably, 45,000 to 80,000 exist in the MS-60 to 62 area, although MS-63 specimens, of which an estimated 15,000 to 25,000 survive, are readily available. MS-64 coins are slightly scarce, and number about 10,000 to 18,000. MS-65 examples are scarcer yet and have a population of, perhaps, 2,000 to 3,000.
Most 1890-S Morgan dollars are well struck (with superb definition of the eagle's breast feathers) and have excellent lustre. Many have prooflike surfaces. Some show large numbers of tiny raised lines-die polishing marks-in the fields. Cherrypicking is advised when you buy, but this will be a casual effort at best as most pieces are quite nice.
Prooflike coins: Semi-prooflikes are plentiful. True prooflike coins are somewhat scarce. Some Mint State coins have satiny, somewhat prooflike surfaces and are sometimes sold as fully prooflike. DMPL coins are rare in higher grades. Only about 5% of DMPL coins are MS-65 or finer.
Varieties
Business strikes:
1. Normal date: Breen-5615. Some varieties with one to three date digits doubled, VAM-12 having doubling on 1, 9, and O. At least 29 pairs of dies were shipped to New Orleans: 10 each on March 5, 1890 and July 9, 1890, followed by nine more pairs on October 14, 1890. The large mintage probably required still more dies. R.W. Julian reports that 46 reverses totally were shipped; no data on when these arrived. Most likely some of the new reverses were held over for later years.
