I have an 1881-S Morgan Dollar that I have posted pics of before, its about an MS-63/64 with some PL like features. I have noticed that this particular year and mint mark seems to have a lot of high grade coins with nice strikes and Proof Like features; it seems that I have seen more of this coin than any other in the series. Is the 1881-S known for having nice strikes and a lot of PL coins, or am I just imagineing that (it could be that since I have one, I notice them more easily)? Not that it really matters, I'm just a "big fan" or Morgan Dollars. I have always heard that the S coins tend to have strong strikes, but does this particular coin tend to have really nice features? Also, what are the general strike qualities of the Morgan Dollar mints. I have heard that "S" tends to have nice strong strikes, and "O" tend to be weakly struck-is that true? Also, what about (P), CC, and the 1921-D?
I have an 1881 S thats NGC MS-63 thats also very nicely struck, and is a borderline 64. 1881-S is the most common Morgan in Mint State, and is also known for nice strikes. I believe S and CC usually do a good job with strikes, O is notorius for bad strikes, and P is 50/50. Q. David Bowers writes a good book on this called The Red Book Guide to Silver Dollars that contains lots of good stuff on this subject.
All the early S mint Morgans are great. That mint made some killer coins in the first 4 years. If you are looking for a cheap DMPL in a high grade, 1881-S is the best way to go.
