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: $0.86928
Dies prepared: Obverse: Unknown; Reverse: Un-known.
Business strike mintage: 9,110,000; possibly divided as approximately 1 % of the Second Reverse type and 99% of the Third Reverse type.
Estimated quantity melted: Unknown
SECOND REVERSE:
Approximate population MS-65 or better, Second Reverse: 75 to 150 (URS-8)
Approximate population MS-64, Second Reverse: 300 to 500 (URS-10)
Approximate population MS-63, Second Reverse: 1,000 to 2,000 (URS-12)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62, Second Reverse: 2,500 to 4,500 (URS-13)
Approximate population VF-20 to AU-58, Second Reverse: 1,000 to 2,000 (URS-12)
Availability of prooflike coins, Second Reverse: Scarce. Usually in lower grades and of unsatisfactory appearance. DMPL coins are rare.
Characteristics of striking, Second Reverse: Average to sharp strikes; usually seen extensively bagmarked.
Known hoards of Mint State coins, Second Reverse: A few bags were released by the Treasury Department in the 1950s and 1960s, the source of the following. Three or four bags in Redfield hoard (heavily bagmarked); one bag once owned by Harry J. Forman; one roll (20 coins) owned by Dean Tavenner, 1967. All have been dispersed.
THIRD REVERSE:
Approximate population MS-65 or better, Third Reverse: 100,000 to 150,000 (DRS-18)
Approximate population MS-64, Third Reverse: 150,000 to 250,000 (URS-19)
Approximate population MS-63, Third Reverse: 225,000 to 325,000 (URS-19)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62, Third Reverse: 750,000 to 1,250,000 (URS-21)
Approximate population VF-20 to AU-58, Third Reverse: 200,000 to 400,000 (URS-19)
Availability of prooflike coins, Third Reverse: Very common. DMPL coins are six to seven times less plentiful than PL.
Characteristics of striking, Third Reverse: Mint State coins are usually well struck and have few bagmarks; however, there are numerous exceptions.
Known hoards of Mint State coins, Third Reverse:
Many bags were released by the Treasury in the 1950s and early 1960s.
Proofs:
None
Commentary
The 1879-S exists with two major reverse varieties, the Second Reverse and the Third Reverse .. The Second Reverse is much rarer, unknown to A.G. Heaton, first mentioned in print by George W. Rice (The Numismatist, 6/1898).
Report on the San Francisco Mint
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1879, told of events at San Francisco during the fiscal year ended June 30th:
''Mint at San Francisco.-This institution is provided with every facility for executing a large amount of work, and is in a thoroughly efficient condition. Under the able and economical management of the present superintendent, the interests of both the government and depositors have been carefully protected .... "
At the time the San Francisco Mint was the darling of the United States mint system. Opened in 1874 (cornerstone laid in 1870), the facility was well laid out and organized. The officers quarters were lavishly appointed and served as an ideal place to host visiting government officials from the East, in-cluding an occasional Mint director. The "Granite Lady," as the building was called, survived the 1906 earthquake and fire; today it is a museum.
By contrast, the Carson City Mint was off the beaten path in a section of the United States that was considered little better than the wilderness. If anything, the mint there was more of a nuisance to the Mint director, who operated from offices in Washington, D.C.