1895 Morgan Silver Dollar. Proof-64 (NGC). Richly toned surfaces exhibit blushes of sandy-rose on otherwise dominant steel-olive patina, the former color more prevalent on the reverse. There is reflectivity in the fields, as well as vivid undertones of iridescent antique gold, sunset-orange, champagne-pink and lilac-blue. Crisply impressed and sharply defined throughout, as befits the method of manufacture.<p>The sole Proof-only issue in the popular Morgan silver dollar series, the Philadelphia Mint 1895 has long enjoyed legendary status. Early generations of collectors were puzzled by an entry in Mint records that showed a circulation strike delivery of 12,000 coins for this year, and many theories arose to explain why the only 1895-dated examples found were from the 880-piece Proof issue. Some said the circulation strikes were never made at all and the 12,000-piece figure represented a bookkeeping error. Others suggest that the 12,000-coin mintage reported for 1895 represents an adjustment to the Mints ledgers to account for a final delivery of 1894-dated silver dollars. In an article titled "King of Morgan Dollars Revisited" (2006, 2018), Roger W. Burdette provides conclusive evidence from available government documents that, indeed, the Philadelphia Mint did produce 12,000 circulation strike Morgan dollars from 1895-dated dies on June 28 of that year. With the exception of six circulation strikes provided to the Assay Commission (along with four of the Proof 1895 dollars), the entire mintage of this issue must have remained in storage until the coins were destroyed as part of the 270,232,722 silver dollars melted under provision of the Pittman Silver Purchase Act of 1918.<p>To date not a single circulation strike 1895 dollar from the Philadelphia Mint has been confirmed, although the possibility exists that at least a few examples might have survived and await discovery. Of the aforementioned six examples forwarded to the Assay Commission, Burdette shows that only two were destroyed during the Commissions work. One or more of the four remaining coins might have been purchased as souvenirs by Commission members (which was customary in most years), while any that were not would have been mixed with other coins and released from the Mint to banks and sub-treasuries as a matter of routine. Assuming that was the case, and assuming that at least one of those coins avoided being returned to the Mint in later years for melting (or meeting a similar fate at the hands of commercial smelters), anywhere from one to four circulation strike 1895 dollars from the Philadelphia Mint might still exist. Quite a few circulated 1895 dollars are known, however, and it is far more likely that such coins are survivors from the Mints disposal of unsold Proofs through release into circulation - a common practice during the era, and confirmed by our recent offerings of lightly circulated Proof Liberty Head gold coins of the 1890s and early 20th century from the extensive Fairmont holdings. Returning to the 1895 Morgan dollar, until a circulation strike is positively identified, every collector seeking to assemble a complete date and mint set of this series must acquire a Proof for the Philadelphia Mint 1895. This attractive Choice Proof specimen will attract strong bids from advanced Morgan dollar collectors. PCGS# 7330. NGC ID: 27ZR.
