I just purchased an 1877-S Trade Dollar with a low, micro S. Research on my part shows no Micro-S variety for this Trade Dollar. The two photos are from the internet for comparison purposes. COINFACTS & CHERRY PICKERS GUIDE do not show this variety. Help, please. Thank you much
I don't know about the relative scarcity of a small s to a large s in 1877. I am not aware of any pricing premium for one over the other, or of these being collected as varieties by trade dollar specialists, but they are interesting. I have a couple of very scarce 1875-s "micro s" trade dollars where the mm punch was made for use on dimes but wound up on the trade dollar dies. That may be the case here, where the person charged with placing the mintmarks at the phila. mint just grabbed any old punch with an S on it and went to work. Looking at the eagle back feathers, the top coin is a type 2L reverse, the second coin a type 2M reverse, these are different hubs which is interesting.
Thank you much. Makes sense about a Dime mintmark. I will now research the 2M and 2L reverses. Something new to learn every day. I love it!
