Archive for category: Articles

By Paul M. Green
Numismatic News

If you are looking for fascinating coins, it would be safe to suggest that to find some real values the San Francisco Barber half dollars represent a perfect group to explore. The two facilities that basically produced Barber half dollars from their start in 1892 until their end in 1915 were Philadelphia and San Francisco. New Orleans and Denver also produced Barber half dollars, but neither had mintages from start to finish like San Francisco and Philadelphia.

In the case of the San Francisco Barber halves, there are some surprises and possibly more to come especially in Mint State as virtually any Barber half dollar is tough in Mint State grades.
With San Francisco Barber halves, unlike those from Philadelphia, there is no proof option. The Philadelphia dates can be tough in Mint State but more available and less expensive as proofs. No such option exists for the San Francisco dates. That means that, despite higher prices, some of the San Francisco Barber half dollars are much tougher than even their high prices suggest. It makes them a fascinating group to study. Buried away in their ranks are potentially some excellent values.

From the very start, the difficulty in finding some San Francisco Barber half dollars today in any grade is seen. The first, the 1892-S, had a mintage of 1,029,028, which while not high was also not low when it came to Barber half dollars. None has a mintage of even 6 million pieces. The real problem is that Barber half dollars as a group were not heavily collected at the time of issue.

There is no good reason for the lack of saving of Barber half dollars, but rather a variety of reasons. The first was basically that collectors at the time simply seemed to not like the new Barber coins. There is reason to believe that back in 1892 when the Barber half dollar made its debut there was more interest in the Columbian Exposition half dollar as the first commemorative than there was in the Barber half dollar as a new design on a circulating coin.

Certainly the denomination was a significant factor both in 1892 and in the years that followed. A half dollar was a significant amount of money for the collectors of the day, who in many cases were young and collecting from circulation. That would be the case for years, meaning that Barber half dollars were not saved in Mint State or even quickly enough to have save upper circulated grades. Supplies of many dates in even upper circulated grades are suspect, as the coins simply circulated for decades becoming worn to the point that they were in lower circulated grade or perhaps even so worn that they were retired from circulation and destroyed.

We certainly see all of these factors at work in the case of the 1892-S, which today lists for $250 in G-4. It is a somewhat surprising price as that is higher than many other dates with lower mintages, but when you have a situation where coins were not pulled from circulation by collectors you can get such surprising prices.

An available date Barber half in MS60 is $485, but the 1892-S is $975. In MS-65 an available date is $3,000, but the 1892-S lists for $5,500, and that is even with the normally heavy saving seen in the first year of a new design.

At the Professional Coin Grading Service they report a total of 13 examples of the 1892-S in MS-65 or better and a total of just 87 coins in all Mint State grades combined. Simply put, even though it is the first year of a new design, there is not a large supply of the 1892-S in Mint State.

There would be a similar situation in the case of the 740,000 mintage 1893-S, which today lists at $155 in G-4. At least with the 1893-S there is a good case to be made that it had a lower mintage, which helps to explain the G-4 price. Clearly, like the 1892-S, the price is higher than might be expected, suggesting that the 1893-S was lost in some numbers over the years.
In MS-60, the 1893-S is at $1,200 while an MS-65 is $27,500. Whoa. Obviously, the 1893-S is not readily available in Mint State grades, at least partially reflecting the normal decline in saving in the second year of a new design. Overall, that translates into just 36 examples seen in all Mint State grades combined and of that total just five were in MS-65 or better, explaining the high MS-65 price.

While some Philadelphia dates might have a similar MS-65 total at PCGS, they have Proof-65 examples usually in greater numbers available as an alternative. That option does not exist with the 1893-S as no proofs were made at San Francisco at the time. If you want an MS-65 example today, you will have to pay that price and find someone willing to sell one of the few available pieces to you. Good luck, Consequently, that price is probably a great value if you can find someone willing to sell you one.

The 1894-S had a much larger mintage of 4,048,690. That makes it a $17.50 date in G4. It could probably be suggested that the 1894-S is a classic early San Francisco Barber half dollar as it certainly seems like it should be available, but the lack of collecting and saving around San Francisco would come into play as it is $500 in MS-60, but $12,250 in MS-65 where PCGS has seen just 7 examples. For a coin with a mintage of over 4 million, that’s highly unusual, but when it comes to Barber half dollars from San Francisco, the total is not so unusual.

The 1895-S, with a much lower mintage of 1,108,086, is naturally a tougher coin in circulated grades, with a G-4 price of $35. In MS-60 at $575 it is also more expensive than the 1894-S, but while still scarce in MS-65, its $9,000 price is lower than the 1894-S and that is correct as PCGS has recorded I I examples in MS-65 or better.

Once again the uneven nature of the survival of San Francisco Barber half dollars is clearly seen as the 1895-S is tougher than the 1894-S in some grades but not in others.

The 1896-S confuses things even further with a mintage of 1,140,948, but a G-4 price of $92.50 – far higher than might be expected based on the mintage. The MS-60 listing of $1,400 is also higher than expected and so is the MS65 listing of $11,750 where PCGS has seen just 14 examples. The surprising prices again seem to reflect the uncertain chances for survival for any specific Barber half dollar.

We know some Barber issues of the 1890s were exported and that may play a role, but the major factor is simply that the numbers of any given date which were retired and destroyed or lost in some other way do not by definition follow the mintages.

The 1896-S clearly did not survive in the same numbers as others in assorted grades and we have no good way of explaining why that happened. the population reports are the only road map we are likely to get.

The 1897-S was another lower mintage date with a total mintage of 933,900. That is not as low as some others, but is still safely below the I million mark, which for many years many collectors used as the standard for a lower mintage.

Certainly at $150 in G-4 the 1897-S in circulated grades is priced like a lower mintage date. That also applies to MS60, where it lists for $1,500, and MS-65 where it is at $8,500 on the strength of PCGS having graded just 13 in MS-65 or better.

The 1898-S returned to higher mintages with a total production of 2,358,550 and that total results in a G-4 price today of $27.50. Even at $27.50 the figuring has to be that this coin saw some losses over the years as with its mintage and relatively low demand for Barber half dollars in general the assumption would be that it would not be over $25, especially in G-4.

The 1898-S becomes a more expected problem in MS-60 as there the simple lack of saving at the time enters into the picture. We find an MS-60 at $970 while an MS-65 is at $10,500. That higher MS-65 price finds support in the fact that PCGS has graded only 10 examples of the 1898-S as MS-65 or better.

Once again we see the uneven survival of Barber half dollar dates especially in lower grades when the 1898-S is compared to the lower mintage 1899S, which had a mintage of 1,686,411, but which is less expensive in G-4 at $22. In fact the 1899-S is cheaper across all grades, with an MS-60 at $660 while an MS-65 is $7,000. PCGS has seen 14 in MS65 or better.

In the case of the 1900-S what we see is a more typical San Francisco Barber half With a mintage of just over 2.5 million, the 1900-S is available in circulated grades with a current price of $15 in G-4. In MS-60 it is $650, but in MS-65 we find a listing of $12,500 and a PCGS total of just 9 pieces. Realistically, the 1900-S is less than many in MS-60, yet when you check for the total number seen by PCGS in all Mint State grades, you find that total is under 50 coins. So while not expensive, the 1900-S is still not an easy coin to find in Mint State and a good reflection of the fact that at the time there was simply very little saving of new Barber half dollars.

The 1901-S is a very special Barber half dollar at least in top grades. The 1901-S started out with a mintage of 847,044, which definitely qualifies it as low mintage. In G-4, however, it is $34, which is certainly above the available date price, but not in the small group at $100, meaning we can probably conclude that the 190 1 -S survival was about as expected. In MS-60, however, it is at $1,850 and then in MS-65 it lists for $22,000 which is one of the highest Barber half dollar prices in that grade behind only a couple others.

The PCGS totals show a mere 30 Mint State 1901-S half dollars having been graded and of the 30 just 7 were called MS-65 or better.

In the case of the 1902-S there is another case of an available date in circulated grades as it lists for just $16 in G-4, which is really quite close to the G4 price of an available date, which is just $12. What makes the price interesting is that with a mintage of under 1.5 million, it would appear that the 1902-S had a slightly better than average survival rate. In MS-60 at $750 it is not at an available date price, but virtually no San Francisco Barber half dollars are and its $9,350 MS-65 price does suggest a better date. That conclusion is supported by a PCGS total of just 11 pieces.
The 1903-S, with a mintage of over 1.9 million, proves to be even more available in all grades, starting at just $15 in G-4. In MS-60 the 1903-S is at $610 while an MS-65 is at $5,750. Once again those are not available date prices for a Barber half dollar but for a San Francisco Barber half dollar they are below average at least for dates from the period.

It is the opposite for the 553,038 mintage 1904-S. Starting with that low mintage, the 1904-S would be expected to bring premium prices in all grades and at $38.50 in G-4, it does. That price, along with others from the period, does suggest that attrition in the case of dates from the early 1900s was potentially not as great as was seen in the case of the dates from the early 1890s. Of course an extra decade in circulation might well have made a difference when it came to coins being retired from circulation and destroyed and naturally the dates more likely to be retired were the first ones produced.

In Mint State the 1904-S is the key Barber half dollar. It lists for $6,250 in MS60 and $37,500 in MS-65. If anything, those prices appear to be bargains. In Mint State, PCGS has seen just 21 examples, or barely a roll of the 1904-S and only 5 of those coins qualified as MS-65 or better. Clearly the supply is not enough to meet future demand as even if only a few collectors seek to complete top-grade Barber half dollar sets, the 1904-S will be a problem to find and to convince an owner to sell.

The 1905-S returned to a more normal mintage of nearly 2.5 million pieces. That total puts it almost at an available date price of $15.50 in G-4 while an MS-60 is $565, but an MS-65 is $10,000 * It an interesting situation as until you-get to MS-65, the 1905-S is perilously close to an available date, but in MS-65 it becomes a problem and that is seen in the PCGS total in MS-65 or better of only 11 coins.

The 1906-S, with a mintage of 1,740,154 would be the first Barber half dollar to really be priced at an available date price of $13 in G-4. At $610 in MS60 it would also seem to be fairly available, which is supported by a total of 80 seen by PGGS. Coins in MS-65, however, remain a problem as the 1906-S lists for $6,250 and PCGS reports just 15 in MS-65 or better.

The 1907-S is special. It is the last of the MS-65 Barber half dollars to top $10,000 in MS-65. The 1907-S is a fairly average date in lower grades with a mintage of 1,250,000, which is slightly lower, so a $16 G-4 price is not too surprising. In MS-60 it is at $1,275 and that is surprising, but so is the total of just 43 graded by PCGS and the $13,500 MS65 price is supported by the fact that only 14 of the Mint State total were MS65 or better.

Even though these later date Barber half dollars tend to be less expensive in all grades, they still have cases where they are at premium prices. We see that in the case of the 1908-S, which is $18 in G-4 despite a mintage of 1,644,828. The 1908-S also brings premiums in upper grades at $850 in MS-60 and $6 1 850 in MS-65. In this case it may be a sleeper in Mint State as PCGS has only seen 43 examples in Mint State and just 14 were MS-65 or better.

The 1909-S could almost be called available in all grades. It had a mintage of 1,764,000, but a G-4 is $12 and an MS-60 is just $595 while an MS-65 is $5,000. That MS-65 listing is higher, but PCGS has seen 19 examples, which still does not sound like much but is far higher than some other dates.

The 1910-S with a nearly two million mintage is available in G-4, but slightly tougher in Mint State, with an MS-60 at $650 while an MS-65 is at $6,850. PCGS has seen just over 20 examples, and interestingly the 1910-S is a date where the number in MS-66 is actually slightly higher than the total in MS-65.

The 191 I-S had a lower total mintage of 1,272,000, but that has little impact on price as it sits at $13 in G-4 and $580 in MS-60. An MS-65, however, is better at $6,000 and that may be cheap as only 14 have been graded.

As the years passed, there was definitely slightly more saving of Barber half dollars, although the change was very small in Mint State. The 1912-S is slightly better at $15 in G-4, but at $550 in MS-60 it is inexpensive for a San Francisco Barber half dollar. Its MS65 price of $6,000 would prove to be the last date to reach that price and the 16 graded by PCGS in MS-65 or better is only slightly higher than many earlier dates, making $6,000 a fair listing.

The 1913-S and 1914-S are similar in availability and price although the 1913S is slightly better in G-4 at $22. The 1914-S is interesting as it had a lower mintage of 992,000, which might be expected to produce a higher price than $15 in G-4 and $580 in MS-60 and $5,000 in MS-65, but clearly by 1914 there was at least some small additional savings by collectors taking place.

The final coin in the sequence, the 1915-S, is ironically the one Barber half from San Francisco that has availabledate prices. An MS-60 is just $485 and an MS-65 is $3,250. Even though available, it is still a good deal; PCGS has seen fewer than 30 in MS65 or better.

Certainly date for date, the San Francisco Barber half dollars qualify as a group whose prices are difficult to predict based on mintages. What you can, however, predict is that in top grades virtually all are very tough and potentially excellent values.

By Q. David Bowers
Numismatic Perspective

Quite a few years ago a numismatic magazine published an article by me, stating that I was an “economist from Columbia University”. This looked nice in print, but wasn’t true. I sent the editor a correction at which time he said that he had “heard this somewhere”. In actuality, I love economics and economic theory, have studied (via my library) the subject intensely, and at Penn State in 1960 earned a degree in Finance.

To me the combination of numismatics, economics and finance is a dynamic one. It is also quite useful in planning. This led me on the path to research the history of the coin market, leading to a series of articles on coin price and popularity cycles, first published in the early 1960s, and since then revised and expanded. In my latest book, published by Whitman, An Expert’s Guide to Collecting and Investing in Coins, you will find a lot of significant and interesting (hopefully) information on coin market cycles, with some general background given on other things.

Economics has been called the dismal science by some, and it may be. This one element of American and worldwide life can neither be predicted with accuracy nor understood clearly. I believe all of us were amazed during the Jimmy Carter administration in the 1970s when, in defiance of all standard economic theories, we had double-digit interest rates and double-digit inflation at the same time. High interest rates are supposed to dampen inflation and, hopefully, make it go away! All bets were off, all rules were broken. Then we had Ronald Reagan’s “trickle down” theory, called Reaganomics by some. No matter how it was viewed, it did straighten up the American economy, which seemed in dire peril and about to crash completely.

Today in 2005 we have interest rates being hiked by the Federal Reserve System (recently to 4%, the highest in four years, but still far below the levels of earlier decades), a real estate bubble that everyone predicts is about to pop, and rising costs everywhere, My own view is that interest rates will continue to rise, due to general worldwide prosperity as well as domestic prosperity, the latter encouraged by what many consider to be reckless spending and vast sums of government money thrown around, often without what the business sector considers to be effective management or oversight. I do not mean to be political, and we all have our opinions, so I’ll stop here. However, perhaps being a transplanted Yankee, my feeling is that if you want to spend a dollar, it’s good to have a dollar in the bank.

As to what the current American economic milieu means for numismatics, the coin market has been there, done that in various mutations over a long time, As I see it, increased inflation will bring with it increased costs of living and everything else.

Speculators in real estate property not being used for office space or actual residence will have their fingers burned- nothing new or unexpected- the same thing happened to dot.com stock investors in 2000. Remember those television scenes in which leading brokerage companies would give naive but well-to-do people desks so they could trade all day? That is, until their money ran out. Just like a casino.

Cost of services will rise, including transportation, energy, interest, medical care, and more. At the same time I do not see a corresponding cost in real take-home income. Companies are trying to cut costs everywhere- cutting medical benefits, reducing overtime, hiring cheaper labor, outsourcing, buying goods in third-world countries, and so on. The idea of using your home to borrow money from some distant television advertiser to “consolidate your debts” or to enjoy life more will come to an abrupt end, as anyone who had taken out an adjustable rate mortgage will find a particular squeeze: more interest to pay, but less income from which to pay it.

In all of this, numismatics will go on merrily. Collecting coins is one of the pleasures of life, and in the changing panorama to come, I cannot see people giving up driving their cars, buying iPods and other computer gadgets, and, in essence, enjoying themselves. Collecting coins has always been a refuge for the weary, a place to regenerate a tired mind. I could easily create a monograph of a couple hundred pages of essays from observers in the past who have stated the benefits of collecting, not the investment benefits, but the emotional benefits. And while it takes money to buy expensive rare coins, most coins are very affordable.

I am now in the midst of writing a 288-page book on Washington quarters for Whitman Publishing Company. I expect that there will be at least a couple of pages, with lots to read, on each of the state quarters from 1999 to date. I really enjoy my full and constantly growing collection, all MS-65 and Proof-65 (although they are ungraded and in albums) or finer. The total cost is just a few hundred dollars, plus $125, or whatever it was, for the fascinating 2004-D Wisconsin quarters- one with Extra Leaf High and the other with Extra Leaf Low. While I would dearly like to own an 1879 gem Proof Flowing Hair Stella at $200,000, 1 seriously doubt if I would enjoy it as much as my set of quarters!

In a world of changing economics and monetary situations, I predict that coins will continue to be an excellent store of value. Basic concepts should be kept in mind: quality, rarity, popularity, and eye appeal. While the rare coin market has always moved in cycles, and will continue to do so, a basic awareness of these cycles will help you avoid them. Always seek value in anything you buy, and you will do well.

We are indeed lucky to be in numismatics. I love it, and I know that you do, too. The world will change around us, but what we collect will remain as interesting as ever. A carefully assembled set of rare coins should remain a fine store of value, a treasure for the future. In the meantime you will have your own private museum of numismatic history and art to enjoy.

By Paul M. Green
NUMISMATIC NEWS

Morgan dollars tend to have reputations. News last week that the Goldbergs are selling a small hoard of 1894-P silver dollars couldn’t be more timely from my point of view as we work our way through the Morgan series by mint.

The most historic Morgans in the minds of many are Carson City dollars because of their association with the Carson City Mint, which was located less than 20 miles from Virginia City and the heart of the mining activity in the Comstock Lode. The San Francisco Morgans, which also used Comstock Lode silver in many cases, are better known as the group where some truly extraordinary coins are found as for whatever reason San Francisco produced not only extremely nice Morgan dollars but sometimes a lot of them. In the case of New Orleans it can be the other extreme as care seemed to be lacking. It is also the New Orleans dates where some of the biggest surprises in terms of dollars appearing in $1,000 bags from the Treasury vaults were found.

The other major facility that produced silver dollars was the Philadelphia Mint and as so often happens in the case of coins from the later part of the 1800s and much of the 1900s, the coins from Philadelphia have a way of getting overlooked.

It is perhaps just a case where normally speaking Philadelphia as the main facility would have higher mintages of decent quality coins. There were not likely to be extremes and there were usually no significantly low mintages. In Morgan dollars, however, the Morgans that emerged from Philadelphia are not as easily placed in a simple category. The Philadelphia Morgans were a diverse and interesting group which deserve more attention than they usually receive.

From the start the Philadelphia Morgan dollars showed their diversity In 1878 there would be four different reverses on the first Philadelphia Morgan dollars and that fact alone tells a story. One of the four reverse(s), the one with eight tail feathers is especially historic as it is without question the first Morgan dollar.

In fact, the first Morgan dollar with a reverse featuring eight tailfeathers did not last long. It was an interesting situation as the Morgan dollar was not greeted with hysterical trumpeting of joy. In fact, with Trade dollars still in circulation that were not being honored as dollars because their legal tender status had been revoked in 1876, many people were not happy to see any kind of silver dollar.

The initial Morgan dollar took a lot of criticism based on the problems with the Trade dollar, but it had problems with the art critics as well. The editor of American Journal of Numismatics probably took the prize claiming, “The long line of monstrosities issued from the United States Mint certainly receives it crown in the new dollar.The ugliness of the piece adds another wrong to the original one of dishonesty.”

The art critics were not the only ones examining the new dollars. Mint Director Henry Linderman was also not happy. He had apparently been spending his time in a useful manner examining the tailfeathers and coming to the conclusion that historically all the eagles depicted on U.S. coins had one large tail feather, suggesting an odd number of them. The new Morgans did not, so he held a meeting that resulted in a couple minor changes but most important was the order to reduce the number of feathers.

The Morgan dollar had only been in production a couple week and dies were available with eight tailfeathers, so the response was to impress the eight tailfeather dies with new ones of seven feathers. This left the tips of the eight feathers still visible and created what is called the doubled or seven over eight tailfeathers variety.

That solution was not the end of it. When the new dies were produced, some had the top arrow feather parallel to the shaft, which is known as the reverse of 1878, while others would have the top arrow feather slanting, called the reverse of 1879.

The situation produced four different 1879 Philadelphia reverses and many questions as to how many of each were made. In his book The Official Red Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, Q. David Bowers suggests a mintage of perhaps 750,000 of the original eight tailfeathers, perhaps 500,000 of the doubled tailfeathers, an estimated 7,850,000 of the reverse of 1878 and another 1,500,000 of the reverse of 1879.

All were released to circulation and thus are available to various degrees. They also would appear in bags from the Treasury over a long period. Of the group, the final reverse of 1879 may well be tougher than current prices suggest.

The other Philadelphia dollar of the 1870s was the 14,806,000 mintage 1879. A coin with such a high mintage should be available today, unless it was heavily melted as a result of the Pittman Act, which in 1918 saw the melting of just over 270 million silver dollars. Some might have been melted, but the 1879 is still easily found as bags containing them were paid out of the Treasury vaults for decades.

By 1890 the required Morgan dollar production was in full swing and the dollar was being used heavily in the West. That was not the case in the rest of the country, especially the, East where bank notes were replacing coins in upper denominations. The 1880 Morgan from Philadelphia had another large mintage, 12,600,000 pieces, from many different dies. As a result the quality of the 1880 varies widely, with the main point being they are available. Bag after bag emerged from the Treasury through the 1950s. Even though there was little numismatic interest over the period, the sheer numbers mounted up, making the 1880 available today.

Much the same could be said of the 1881, which continued the pattern of high mintages at 9,163,000. Even if some were melted and others weakly struck, the sheer quantity produced resulted in the 1881 being available today.

The 1882 should be the same with a mintage of 11,100,000, but the 1882 while available is a date that is known for bagmarks. In addition its quality ranges from well struck to lightly structure and that makes any 1882 a more challenging coin to find in truly top quality than might be expected.

In an era of available dollars, the 12,290,000-mintage 1883 is one of the most available. In addition to its large mintage, the 1883, while possibly melted in some numbers in the Pittman Act melting, just kept appearing from everywhere. The famous Continental-Illinois Bank Hoard reportedly had over a dozen bags, and if that was not enough the Treasury kept releasing bags as well. In the end, while frequently poorly struck, the 1883 remains an available date.

You can say much the same for the rest of the dates of the 1880s. In every case the Philadelphia mintage was large. With little commercial demand at the time, dates like the 1884 or 1888 would simply sit in vaults, being slowly paid out when demand arose. Of course, new supplies kept coming faster than demand and as a result when the Pittman Act melting did take place the Philadelphia dates of the 1880s were logical ones to have been melted in some numbers. Even with the melting there would still be plenty to be released later, and that saw additional supplies of many dates right up to the final bag releases in 1964. As a result, a complete run of Philadelphia dates from the 1880s is easily assembled today, but check care fully as coins can vary significantly in quality. With the heavy mintages there were weak strikes and assorted varieties, which can make the group more interesting and more difficult than might be assumed.

The 1890s started very much like the 1880s ended. The 1890, mintage of 16,802,000, is another of the available dates although it is well known for light strikes and dull luster. In fact, the 1890 is one of the real sleepers in grades above MS-65 as there are virtually none. Bowers sums up the situation well in his book, saying of the 1890, “If you: want a nice one buy a proof.”

The 1891 is available, but if you look at the 8,693,556 mintage you will notice it was down slightly. That would be a sign of things to come. Vaults all over the country were filling up with Morgan dollars and even though the Congress would pass the Sherman Silver Purchase act to continue Morgans as the Bland-Allison Act expired, the purchasing provisions of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act would be quickly repealed and that would basically spell the end of the large Morgan dollar mintages and the beginning of some tough dates, even from Philadelphia.

The 1892 is the beginning of the trend. The 1892 had a mintage of just 1,036,000, far lower than any previous date from Philadelphia. The low mintage caused some interest and for many years the 1892 was not readily available. Some probably suspected it was melted, and while that might be true, in the 1960s the 1892 suddenly appeared in some numbers. With weak strikes in many cases, the 1892 is seen as slightly below average in quality and despite some saving from the 1960s bags, the supply of the 1892 has never been very strong. That is especially true if you want an example in a grade above MS-65, where only a few are known.

The silver purchasing clause of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act was repealed in 1893. That saw the bottom literally fall out of Morgan dollar production. The 1893 had a mintage of just 378,000, another new low for Philadelphia. We have no good information on just how the 1893 was released. Moreover, the 1893 was identified quickly, so some examples were pulled from circulation over time, but realistically it would not have been large numbers as there were not large numbers of Morgan dollar – collectors even in the 1960s when a few bags emerged from the Treasury. In general, although we do not really know its past, it can be said that the 1893 is tough in every grade as would be expected based on its low mintage.

The 1894 is even tougher as would be expected with a mintage of just 110,000. That total is lower than any other business strike Morgan except for the 1893-S. There are no readily available grades for the 1894 as might be expected with its extremely low mintage. Once again the mintage would have alerted collectors and dealers to the fact that the 1894 would be better, but lack of collector interest in dollars would have kept the numbers being saved low. Historically, there have been reports of a bag here and a bag there of the 1894 appearing, but the bottom line on the 1894 is that the period of prime saving in the form of $1,000 bags being released from the Treasury showed only reports of a few coins in the Treasury holdings and no bags. That makes the 1894 every bit as tough as its mintage suggests. There are small numbers in virtually every grade but no grade where you can call the 1894 even remotely available.

The 1895 is simply special. Official reports put the mintage of the 1895 at 12,880, but in fact we are now quite sure that was a reporting mistake. For a time it was thought that the 12,000 business strikes could have been melted because of the Pittman Act, but the research and evidence as well as logic suggest that at least a couple business strikes would have survived if for no other reason than the Assay Commission. All now point in the same direction, that the 1895 was a proof-only issue placed in proof sets along with the Barber coins of the period. That puts its mintage at just 880.

There is actually good news and bad news in being proof-only. The bad news is the small total mintage, which makes the 1895 elusive and expensive even if you can find a mishandled proof. The good news is that although the total was low, the coins tend to be nice and had a very good chance of surviving to the present day. Much the same observation could be made of proofs, which were produced every year in the case of Philadelphia Morgans: if a date is extremely tough in a grade like MS-65, a proof might be an easier option. In the case of the 1895, however, there are no business strikes and that makes it the lowest-mintage Morgan dollar of all.

The supply of the proo(f)-only 1895, however, is better than might be expected. There are estimates that perhaps 600 or more exist. Not all are Proof-65 or better, and with demand far in excess of the supply no one is likely to give you a discount deal on an 1895, but if you have the money an 1895 is a classic blue chip coin always in demand and always a cornerstone of any collection.
For the next few years Philadelphia mintages would rebound into the millions, making the 1896, 1897 and 1898 all relatively available. They might not be quite as available as some of the earlier dates but they are not dates that cause collectors much trouble when it comes to assembling a set of nice quality Morgans.

The 1.899 does not cause much trouble either, and therein is the surprise in that the 1899 had a listed mintage of just 330,000. With that mintage the 1899 should be tough, and the fact that it really is not that tough has caused some to doubt the mintage. It may simply be a case where the 1899 in terms of survival had good timing – it was seen as a tough date based on the mintage and when bags did appear they were usually saved in greater numbers than would be the case for a common date.

Bowers suggests that in the 1950s probably 50,000 to 100,000 Mint State 1899 dollars were released, followed by reports of bags in the 1960s as well. While all the coins were not saved, it was enough to make the 1899 one Morgan date that is more available than might be expected. They were above average in quality, so it makes for a nice opportunity to get a lower-mintage Morgan at a reasonable price.

The Philadelphia Morgans of the 1900s show another side of Morgan dollars. While not always scarce, they are always interesting. The 1900, with an 8,830,000 mintage, is not scarce but it is interesting. It was the year a new reverse hub was introduced. Not every coin was made from this hub, but those that were do not have the same definition on the eagle’s breast feathers, making it possible to have a good strike but poor definition on the breast feathers. Under the circumstances, picking a better-defined piece is a good idea and that may take some time.

The 1901 is a very tricky date. With mintage of 6,962,000, the 1901 is available in Mint State. Where the 1901 is not available is in MS-65 and above. It is hard to point to a specific reason although at least part of the reason may be that the 1901 coins saved tended to be lower Mint State grades.’ It may be that there were not better-quality coins in the bags, or it may also simply be that back in the 1950s when many were set aside there was less emphasis on quality than we have today. It is just a question that will never really be answered as we can find the 1901 in Mint State but rarely if ever in the highest grades The 1902 is another departure from the normal patterns. It is an available date with a mintage of 7,994,000, but it had unusually poor striking and subdued luster, making it an available date but one that is hard to find with a good strike and eye appeal. What makes it interesting is that the 1903 is the opposite with a 4,652,000 mintage, and every one seems to be at least above average and as if Philadelphia was alternating quality The 1904, while once again available, is another date where quality is not usually found.

With the production in 1904 the Morgan dollar had reached its end, or so officials thought. The original hubs were destroyed in 1910, only to have an emergency call for more production in 1921 as coins melted under the Pittman Act had to be replaced to back Silver Certificates. That produced one more Philadelphia Morgan, the 1921 with its enormous 44,690,000 mintage. The 1921 is certainly available, but the nature of the dies makes finding an appealing example more difficult than many might suspect.

There would be no more Philadelphia dollars after the 1921 but the legacy of years of production is certainly an interesting one. In fact, diversity might well be the best way of explaining what you find in Philadelphia Morgan dollars. From the scarce to the relatively easy, there seems to be at least one Philadelphia Morgan dollar with every possible characteristic. That makes the Philadelphia Morgans a more interesting and more challenging group than might be expected. They are a diverse and fas-cinating group well worth special attention and study.

from The Centinel Spring 2005 Volume 53, No. 1
Written by Samuel Ernst, YN

I collect state quarters and I think they are really neat! Some collectors think the state quarter program is boring and a waste of time and money. Maybe now they will change their minds! Last December, a man in Tucson, Arizona, by the name of Bob Ford made a startling discovery. For 15 years, Mr. Ford has been going through coins from the bank looking for errors and varieties. On December 11th, while he was looking through some 2004-D Wisconsin quarters, he found “extra leaves” on the ears of corn on some of the coins. And he didn’t find just one kind of new leaf… he found two! (I am from Nebraska and we call them “husks,” but since everybody else is calling them “leaves,” I will too.)

One had an extra leaf up higher and closer to the ear of corn on the design. This one is called the “extra high or up leaf.” The other has an extra leaf that is lower and comes out from the ear of corn. This one is called the “extra low or down leaf.” Mr. Ford took the quarters to a coin dealer in Tucson, Rob Weiss of Old Pueblo Coin Exchange, to see if he had really found something neat, like a new variety. He had and things really started to happen!

On January 11th the Arizona Daily Star newspaper wrote an article about the extra leaves and over night people came from all over to Tucson to look for Wisconsin quarters with the extra leaves. Coin World printed an article about the “extra leaves” in their January 10th issue called, “Markings on quarter leave mystery.” In that article the writer, Eric von Klinger, said “…the appearances of the marks, appearing raised on the coins, are such that Coin World has asked the Mint, for the record, whether any design modifications were deliberately made.” They have written another article about the “extra leaves” in their January 24th issue, too.

While there are questions about what caused the “extra leaves,” there is no question that there are a lot about it. On the of people talking Collector’s Universe U.S. Coin Forum message boards, collectors and dealers have been wondering if the extra leaves were “die gouges, planchet defects, a hubbing accident or even an intentional added design element.” I am a YN, so I don’t really know about what all of that means yet, and even though I haven’t seen the coins in person, I do know the “extra leaves” really do look like leaves in the pictures I’ve seen.

Because of where the “High/Up and Low/Down” leaves show up on the design and because they really look like “leaves,” it looks like it wasn’t an accident. The “leaves” are in the right places on both varieties. They look just like leaves on an ear of corn, and they are on a coin that has an ear of corn on it. Wow! But because there isn’t a good reason for why the “extra leaves” are on the coins, it makes me wonder if it wasn’t an accident, though. It probably won’t matter to collectors how the extra leaves got there. I know it doesn’t matter to me. I just think they look cool.

Rick Snow, who owns Eagle Eye Rare Coins; Inc. of Tucson, wrote this in a post to the Collector’s Universe U.S. Coin Forum about how people are reacting in Tucson: “You have to realize that it’s like someone hid winning lottery tickets all over town.” After reading about the coins in Coin World I asked my grandparents, who live near Tucson to try and find some for me, but they couldn’t. They said one coin dealer, told them, that before the varieties were found, he was giving away free 2004 Wisconsin state quarters to anyone who brought in a can of food for a food drive. I wonder how many folks got “extra leaf” quarters that way?

After seeing the coins in person and taking some to the FUN show in Florida to have other dealers -and collectors look at the coins, Rick Snow has made up his mind that they are a true variety. In another, post on the Collector’s Universe U.S. Coin Forum he wrote: “To me as a variety specialist, I must say this is a cool naked eye variety. Much better than the 2004-DD nickels, and along the lines of the 1972-DD cents and other bold varieties. I feel certain that these will be collected alongside the state, quarter set.”

On their website, the Professional Coin Grading Service (PCGS), wrote a statement on January 21st about the Wisconsin quarters with the “extra leaves.” David Hall, PCGS founder and president, said: “This is a very important discovery. The ‘extra leaf’ Wisconsin quarters are the first major variety for the Statehood quarters. And they are very obvious varieties that are easily discernable to the naked eye… no microscope or imagination are necessary.”

PCGS also said, “While an official statement from the Mint regarding the design anomalies has not yet been made, speculation thus far that the marks are tool gouges in the die leaves one wondering. On the low position variety, the ‘die gouge’ is particularly large, shaped like a leaf, and in the exact position where one would expect an additional leaf to be. Even the high position variety, the gouge is suspiciously ‘leaf like.’ albeit less so than the other variety.”

I wrote an email to Q. David Bowers, of American Numismatic Rarities, asking him what he thought about the “extra leaves” on the Wisconsin state quarters. He wrote back to me and said, “While the exact cause of these varieties is not known at the moment, it seems to me that two different working dies were each engraved with an extra leaf, quite carefully and with good artistic effect. From a numismatic viewpoint, this has created varieties that are fascinating.”

So far, no other “extra leaves” Wisconsin quarters have been proved to be real anywhere else in the country other than Tucson or from any other Mint than Denver. It is estimated that there are only 2,000 “high leaf”‘ and 2,700 “low leaf”‘ coins that collectors and dealers in Tucson know about. Wow! A set of three Wisconsin quarters: one with a normal design, one with a “high/up” leaf and one with a “low/down” leaf would have cost a face value of 75-cents last December, if you were lucky enough to find them at a bank in Tucson. Now they are selling for hundreds of dollars!
No one still knows for sure if the “extra leaves” were made on purpose or are just a mistake that happened in the minting process. No one really knows if they are only going to be found in Tucson or in other areas of the country too. No one really knows how many more will turn up.

But one thing I know for sure is that they sure look neat and these “extra leaves” on the 2004-D Wisconsin state quarters is the neatest thing to happen to the state quarter series so far!

from NUMISMATIC NEWS magazine March 4, 2003
Written by Weimar W. White

Collectors of Morgan Carson City dollars often wonder why MS-65 specimens of two dates are relatively expensive when the General Services Administration in the 1970s sold 3,949 1890-CC and 5,687 1891 -CC silver dollars to the public. Most of these coins were in uncirculated condition but were heavily bag marked from being moved around from one location to another in bags each containing 1,000 coins.

The Redfield estate (1976) also had several bags of uncirculated examples of these two dates, which were sold to collectors. They also were generally heavily bag marked.

One can purchase MS-60 examples of these two dates for about $325 each in today market. However, the price is significantly higher for MS-64 specimens, i.e., about $925 for an 1890-CC and around $625 for an 1891 -CC dollar. However, the big jump in price occurs when just one grade point higher is desired. An 1890-CC in MS-65 will cost a potential buyer about $6,750 and about $3.000 for an 1891-CC in the same grade.

The big jump in price is because these gem dollars are scarce and there are many collectors of Carson City dollars who want virtually bag mark free specimens. Just how scarce are these gem dollars? The writer estimates that only 265 +/- 40 MS-65 or higher 1890-CC dollars are available to collectors. By comparison, the 1891-CC dollar in MS-65 or higher are somewhat more available and I estimate approximately 500 +/- 70 exist. No wonder collectors will pay $3,000 for a gem.

The 1890-CC dollar in deep mirror prooflike MS-65 is a rare coin, but can be purchased for around $8,500.

Surprisingly, the 1891 -CC dollar is even rarer than the 1890-CC with mirror surfaces. A prooflike example of an 1891-CC dollar in MS-68 sold at auction in 2000 for $86,250!

The 1890-CC and 1891-CC dollars in certified MS-65 showcased in this article show no toning and have full mint luster with lots of cartwheel spin as evidenced when the coins are rotated. They look like they were just minted.

For those collectors who enjoy seeing their coins appreciate in value, let’s go back to 1932. B. Max Mehl, a well known dealer during this period, placed no premium on either of them in that year. Even in 1959, Red Book values for these two dates in uncirculated condition are listed as only $4.50 each.

If your dad gave you an 1890-CC dollar in gem condition that he acquired in 1932, the average annual rate of appreciation to date in nominal dollars would be13.22 pecent per year. For the 1891-CC dollar, if also acquired then, the average rate of return would be 11.94 percent per year.

If a collector had purchased these two dollars in gem condition in 1959 for $4.50 each, his average annual rate of return to date would be 18.08 percent per year and 15.93 percent per year, respectively.

Even after one factors out an average of 4.2 percent per year due to price inflation, the real return for these two dollars since 1959 is still in double digits per year. As such, the ownership of these two gem coins can be rewarding psychologically and financially as the data clearly shows.

While most collectors would collect for its own sake, reinforcing that behavior with solid investment performance by the coins they own doesn’t hurt either.

The most significant aspect to this price performance is that it is for coins that could have been acquired by an average collector in 1932 or 1959, or even from the General Services Administration sales in the 1970s.

Would you have purchased such high-grade pieces at any of those time periods, considering the state of grading of those past hobby eras, or the randomness of the government sale process? Perhaps not. But that is a part of collecting as well. Developing an eye for quality before others do certainly helps improve a collector’s chance to obtain something that will perform well in the future.