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1895-O S$1 MS64 PCGS. As Q. David Bowers stated i

Currency:USD Category:Coins & Paper Money Start Price:1.00 USD Estimated At:1.00 - 1,000,000.00 USD
1895-O S$1 MS64 PCGS. As Q. David Bowers stated i
<B>1895-O<S$1> MS64 PCGS.</B></I> As Q. David Bowers stated in his "Redbook" of Morgan Dollars, "The 1895-O emerged as the single circulation strike variety that is not known to have been a part of any Treasury releases via bags." He also speculates that of the 450,000 pieces struck, probably 100,000 or more were placed into circulation in or shortly after 1895. As a result of both of these factors, the 1895-O is easy to locate in the lower circulated grades, and it is extremely rare in the better grades of Mint State. Think what it would take for an 1895-O to survive 110 years in MS64 condition: with no bags or even roll quantities even rumored to exist, single coins would have to be set aside in the year of issue by collectors of the day. And what are the chances of that? Slim, at best. Most collectors were not really familiar with mintmarks or the relative availability or unavailability of certain issues until many years after 1895. So, the few high grade pieces that do exist today were set aside, most likely, by collectors who obtained a nice coin from a bank that received its silver dollars from the New Orleans mint. Again, circumstances conspired against this. As promising as the New South was at the approach of the 20th century, the fact is much of that section of the country was afflicted by grinding poverty. A silver dollar was a day's wages, and hard-earned at that. Very few people in the South in 1895 could afford to set aside a silver dollar because it was "pretty." Yet, a few were set aside, and this is one of the few.<BR> The surfaces display the smooth, satiny mint luster that is characteristic of coins produced in the New Orleans mint. On this coin, it is remarkably smooth and free from any obvious or really distracting blemishes. The only flaws we see (with magnification) are a couple of shallow slide marks across the cheek of Liberty, undoubtedly caused by the coin residing for many years in a holder or board that had transparent plastic slides on each side of the holes for the various issues. Most of each side shows light gray patina with the occasional dab of deeper russet around the obverse rim--once again, undoubtedly from being housed in something like a Wayte Raymond holder that will tone the coin around the rims. Just a bit softly struck in the centers, as always. Only eight other pieces have been so graded by PCGS with seven finer, while NGC has certified 13 in MS64 but only two finer (4/05). A rare opportunity for the astute collector of Morgan dollars.