PCGS Featured Coin: 1892-S Morgan Dollar, PCGS MS67

There are few series as popular or as widely beloved as the Morgan Dollar, a quintessentially American coin that was in production from 1878 through 1921. The coin was officially named the Liberty Head Dollar, but numismatists and the American public dubbed it the “Morgan” Dollar in a nod to the coin’s designer, George T. Morgan. The nickname stuck, and so, too, has the collectability of a series that features numerous rare dates and scarcities, either in the absolute or conditional senses.

Several issues in the Morgan Dollar series are tough in all respects, and among those is the 1892-S. This challenging San Francisco issue was struck to the tune of 1,200,000 pieces, a mintage that may not seem all that small at first blush. However, many are believed to have been melted to meet the requirements of the Pittman Act of 1918, which saw the melting of 270,232,722 silver dollars.

Legendary numismatic author Q. David Bowers wrote in his seminal volume Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia that “many if not most 1892-S Dollars were placed into circulation at or near the time of issue, and few were saved in Mint State.” He went on to say that “it was not until comparatively recent years that the rarity of the 1892-S has been recognized; this after the San Francisco dispersals from storage in the 1940s and 1950s apparently yielded no bags of this date, nor were any among the untold millions paid out by the Treasury during the 1962-1964 emptying of government vaults. However, it is known that at least one bag of 1892-S Dollars was paid out by the San Francisco Mint in 1925-1926. Few coins reached numismatic circles, as there was little collecting interest in Morgan Dollar mintmarks at the time.”

Specimens grading above MS65 or better have proven to be downright rare. In fact, PCGS estimates a mere 64 survive in MS65 or higher grades – a numismatically tiny number that simply cannot meet the demands of thousands of Morgan Dollar Registry Set collectors, not to mention countless other numismatists who want the finest examples of this rare silver dollar from the Gilded Age.

Stack’s Bowers Galleries recently received a consignment to their Summer Global Showcase Auction of an outstanding 1892-S Morgan Dollar graded PCGS MS67 and housed in an early generation holder. The coin has been off the market for nearly four decades. Stack’s Bowers Galleries Executive Vice President Christine Karstedt says the coin is “a simply beautiful example with superb detail and outstanding eye appeal.” She goes on to say, “The surfaces are virtually pristine with strong luster in a soft satin texture. Richly and originally toned, it was obviously preserved with great care since the time of striking.”

The coin boasts a subtle mottling of olive-gold and pearl gray iridescence, and the reverse exhibits warm mauve-gray patina in the fields and atop the devices with bolder and more vivid steel-blue iridescence nestled in the protected areas around the motifs. Karstedt says, “This is a completely original coin that was almost certainly acquired directly from the San Francisco Mint in 1892.”

With an estimated value of half a million dollars, this resplendent 1892-S Morgan Dollar will serve as a crown jewel in a prestigious Morgan Dollar collection. Should it find a home in a PCGS Registry Set, it may mean the difference between landing a top spot or merely running in second place.