Q. David Bowers
Business Strikes:
Enabling legislation: Act of February 28, 1878, plus the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of July 14, 1890
Designer: George T. Morgan
Weight and composition: 412.5 grains; .900 silver, .100 copper
Melt-down (silver value) in year minted: $0.67401
Dies prepared: Obverse: 9; Reverse: 9.
Business strike mintage: 1,036,000; Delivery figures by month:(Coinage of June from silver under the Act of July 14, 1890; coinage of later months from trade dollar bullion under the Act of March 3, 1891, disposing of 960,535 trades) January-May: none; June: 58,000; July: 68,000; August: 110,000; September: 200,000; October: 200,000; November: 200,000; December: 200,000.
Estimated quantity melted: Probably hundreds of thousands, mainly under the 1915 Pittman Act.
Characteristics of striking: Striking varies dramatically from coin to coin. Some are flatly struck with poor lustre, and others are sharply struck, attractive, and frosty.
Known hoards of Mint State coins: Many bags were released by the Treasury in the 1950s and very early 1960s (before autumn 1962)
Proofs:
Dies prepared: Obverse: At least 1; Reverse: At least 1 (same reverse used in 1891)
Proof mintage: 1,245; Delivery figures by month:(Coinage of March and June from silver under the Act of July 14,1890; coinage of later months from trade dollar bullion under the Act of March 3, 1891. The reason that more Proofs were made of dollars this year than for other years of this era is that silver Proof sets, which contained coin-s from the dime to the silver dollar, had the new-design Barber dime, quarter, and half dollar, which collectors were eager to obtain.) January: none; February: none; March: 620; April: none; May: none; June: 375; July: none; August: none; September: 100; October: none; November: none; December: 150.
Approximate population Proof-65 or better: 140+/ - (URS-9)
Approximate population Proof-64: 164+/- (URS-9)
Approximate population Proof-63: 155+/- (URS-9)
Approximate population Proof-60 to 62: 280+/- (URS-10)
Commentary
The Proof mintage was overly large for this year as there was an exceptional demand for 1892 silver Proof sets, which included the new Barber dime, quarter, and half dollar design. Many Proof dollars were probably spent for face value.
Sources of Silver
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1892, gave a summary of the sources of silver used to produce dollars:
"The mandatory coinage of two million ounces of silver, purchased under the Act of July 14,1890, into silver dollars, ceased at the close of the fiscal year ended June 30, 1891, and during the past fiscal year only a limited coinage of dollars was executed from such bullion.
"The quantity and cost of silver used in this coinage was 2,669,128.95 fine ounces, costing $2,577,838.19, while 18,497.48 fine ounces, costing $18,073.24 were wasted and sold in sweeps, leaving a balance of uncoined silver purchased under the Act of July 14, 1890, on hand at the coinage mints June 30, 1892, of 78,927,665.42 fine ounces, costing $76,314,868.17, distributed as follows ....
"Shortly after April 1, 1873, when the Act of February 12, 1873, revising the coinage laws of the United States, went into effect, the government commenced the purchase of silver in order to supply a fund, as required by that act, from which depositors of silver for fine bars and for trade dollars authorized to be coined therein could be promptly paid, as well as to furnish silver for such subsidiary coin as might be required by the government. Nearly all the silver acquired under this act was purchased for delivery at the mints at San Francisco and Carson City, for the reason that the State and Territories contiguous to these mints were at that time the principal sources of the production of silver. The Act of January 14, 1875, known as the specie resumption act, directed the purchase and coinage into subsidiary silver coins of a sufficient amount to replace the fractional currency in circulation. For this purpose there was purchased in the next three years no less than 31,603,905.87 ounces of silver. By reason of the facilities with which shipments of silver could be made from San Francisco to oriental countries the price of silver on the Pacific coast was generally higher than the price in London.
"Upon the passage of the Act of February 28,1878, remonetizing the silver dollar and directing the purchase and coinage into silver dollars of not less than $2 million worth of silver monthly, sellers of silver on the Pacific coast demanded a price of from 1 to 2 cents an ounce more than silver could be bought for in the London market and delivered at the mints of the United States.
"For this reason recourse was had by the secretary of the Treasury to the London market, and some five million ounces of silver were purchased there for delivery at the Philadelphia mint. After this it was not necessary to resort to the London market, as all the silver required was readily procured either in San Francisco or in New York at the market price.
"Prior to 1879 the greater part of the silver required by the government was purchased in the markets of the Pacific coast, but this was changed by the large falling off in the silver product of Nevada and the large increase in the silver product of the States and Territories penetrated by railroads from the East, and the consequent facility with which ores could be shipped to the eastern smelting and refining works for reduction. Moreover, in recent years the demand for silver upon the part of China and other Oriental countries has fallen off very largely, and in consequence the silver product of the country seeks the most available outlet, which is through the New York market, where it is either sold to the government or shipped to London.
"Of the silver purchased under the Act of July 14, 1890, to November 1, 1892, 103,047,180 fine ounces out of a total amount purchased of 120,479,981 were delivered at eastern mints, the principal portion at the Philadelphia Mint.
"The aggregate amount of silver bullion purchased under the Act of July 14, 1890, from August 13, 1890, to November 1, 1892, was 120,479,981 fine ounces, costing $116,783,590, an average cost of $0.969 per fine ounce.
"In addition to the silver dollars coined under the Act of July 14, 1890, there were coined from the balance of trade-dollar bullion on hand June 30, in accordance with the provisions of the Act of March 3, 1891,4,878,472 silver dollars .... "