Notes From Boston – The Key Date 1893-S Morgan Dollar

You may never know what treasure is hiding in your coin collection. Recently a client came into the Boston gallery with a bag full of Morgan and Peace dollars wishing to cash it in. As we are sorting the dollars and doing our due diligence, we discovered a key date Morgan dollar for the client – an 1893-S Morgan dollar in amongst the pile of common dates.

Much has been said about the historical significance of the Morgan dollar, as well as about its popular appeal with U.S. collectors.  It draws its mystique from the realism of the design, the allure of the Old West, and the coin’s fascinating production history. Specialists often collect by date and mintmark, with several issues being very scarce and consequently commanding large collector premiums, particularly in higher grades. Among those is the “key date” 1893 coin from the San Francisco Mint, certainly a challenge for devoted Morgan collectors to acquire and afford!

The 1893-S Morgan commands a premium across all grades, with wholesale prices starting at around $4,000 in VG and running up to nearly $500,000 for an MS-64.  Unsurprisingly a significant portion of the original minting of 100,000 coins resides in third-party holders, raising at least a yellow flag whenever dealing with a non-slabbed coin. With such high values, these coins are naturally (and unfortunately) a frequent target for coin counterfeiters and for post-mint alterations. Even fake slabs present a concern which should lead potential purchasers to prudently verify even genuine-looking third-party holders.  The phrase “Caveat Emptor” has seldom been more apt.

Among the frequently encountered problem coins for this issue are cast counterfeits. These may be the easiest to spot due to surface bubbles and lack of detail definition, and commonly are slightly off in weight and dimensions. Better counterfeits are die struck and can even be of accurate weight, but are typically detectable due to the absence of strike detail. Alterations to genuine Morgan dollars are also frequently encountered and come in two common versions:  the first has a tampered “S” on the reverse and the second has a tampered “3” in the date. A close examination of the “S” and/or “3” will frequently show smoothing of the surrounding fields and somewhat “off looking” characters.

Because of the low mintage, only one obverse die was used to strike all 1893-S Morgan dollars, and only two reverse dies (VAM-1 and VAM-2) exist.  Genuine 1893-S coins will have subtle but consistent markings, such as small “rabbit ears” at the base of R and a raised mark at the top of the T in “LIBERTY” on the obverse. Comparison to a genuine coin will disclose these subtle but effective indicators.

As always, our team of numismatists here in Boston welcomes you to our gallery to buy, sell, trade, or consign your numismatic items to one of our auctions. We highly encourage you to make an appointment so we can dedicate a block of time to reviewing and consulting on your numismatic collection. To contact us for further inquiries or to make an appointment please call 617-843-8343 or [email protected].  We hope to see you soon and happy collecting!