Another Trade Dollar guess the grade, 1875-S

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by ksparrow, Apr 19, 2020.

  1. ksparrow

    ksparrow Coin Hoarder Supporter

    Purchased not too long ago from a veteran TD collector who is changing his collecting focus. What do you think is the assigned grade? Anything else about it that is interesting? I'll post the grade Tuesday evening.
    1875-s micro s obv .jpg 1875-s micro s rev.jpg
     

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  3. BlackberryPie

    BlackberryPie I like pie

  4. ldhair

    ldhair Clean Supporter

  5. fretboard

    fretboard Defender of Old Coinage!

    62 would be my guess! :D
     
  6. micbraun

    micbraun coindiccted

    MS62? Type-2 Reverse.
     
    Last edited: Apr 19, 2020
  7. ddoomm1

    ddoomm1 keep on running

  8. longshot

    longshot Enthusiast Supporter

  9. ddddd

    ddddd Member

  10. Bradley Trotter

    Bradley Trotter Well-Known Member

  11. LRC-Tom

    LRC-Tom Been around the block...

    MS-62, unless it has more luster in person than this picture indicates.
     
  12. Collecting Nut

    Collecting Nut Borderline Hoarder

  13. Publius2

    Publius2 Well-Known Member

  14. jgrinz

    jgrinz Senior Member

    Yeah I am in the 61-2 realm
    Has some minor head wear if pictures are accurate
    Has field hash both sides.
    No real wear on high points on the reverse.
    Hopefully they did not call that field hash cleaning
    Nice though I like it
     
  15. Rheingold

    Rheingold Well-Known Member

    58 or 62...that's the question:rolleyes:
     
  16. TexAg

    TexAg Well-Known Member

    I guess MS61.
     
  17. Publius2

    Publius2 Well-Known Member

    With these photographs telling us nothing about luster, we have to rely exclusively on wear plus what little we can deduce about luster breaks on device high points. I don't know if the 1875-S is notorious for weak strike, but Liberty's hair looks very weakly struck to me. I also believe I see slight wear points on the breast and on the tip of the eagles left wing.

    For comparison, here's pics of my 1877-S PCGS graded AU-55.

    So, I am calling the OP's coin an AU-58 while giving it the benefit of the doubt for strike and luster. It might grade lower if examined in hand but I don't think there is a circumstance that would call for any mint state grade.

    As always, I am happy to be wrong if I can learn something from the experience.

    DSC_0433.jpg DSC_0434.jpg
     
  18. Publius2

    Publius2 Well-Known Member

    I'm not knowledgeable on this series, but according to my Whitman's Guide Book of Liberty Seated Silver Coins, this would the Type II reverse with the Micro S mintmark, making it scarce/rare. The book also says strike quality varies.

    Doesn't change my view of the grade, however.

    Neat coin.
     
    ksparrow likes this.
  19. Mainebill

    Mainebill Bethany Danielle

    I’m at au 55
     
  20. Rheingold

    Rheingold Well-Known Member

    That's for sure the micro s variety.
    This one is mine, the "normal" S variety on a 1875, too.
    IMG_20190528_185700.jpg
     
  21. ksparrow

    ksparrow Coin Hoarder Supporter

    Now for the grade reveal...


    The AU's have it!
    1875-s micro s obv label.jpg

    As was promptly pointed out by B.berrypie, this is the scarce type 1/2 micro s
    variety (not cherrypicked by me); the story I have heard is that someone at the Phila. mint grabbed an S MM punch made for dimes and used it on the die(s) to be sent to SF. It's a fun variety; I have another (raw about AU50) with terrific patina but some rim digs. There is some highpoint rub that you can see, and some slight loss of luster in the left obv field (also hard to see); the luster breaks are actually more apparent in hand on the rev. I don't see any signs of a cleaning under the unforgiving light of the xenon bulb in my kitchen range hood.
    Thanks for the guesses and comments, and especially to Publius2 for such an informative post as to their thought process in evaluating the coin.
     
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