1884-S Morgan Silver Dollar. MS-61 (PCGS). A fully lustrous, modestly prooflike example with enhancing toning in iridescent champagne-pink. Both sides are fully struck with sharp detail to all design elements. The 1884-S is one of several issues in this series that are readily obtainable in circulated condition but develop into significant condition rarities in Mint State. It is likely that the vast majority of the 3,200,000-piece mintage was placed into circulation during the final years of the 19th century through the early decades of the 20th century. Countless others may have been melted under the terms of the 1918 Pittman Act, although some Uncirculated coins survived in storage in both the San Francisco Mint and at the Treasury Department in Washington, D.C. Quantities in both locations were limited, however, and it appears that mostly individual examples were paid out at widely spaced intervals from the 1920s through the 1950s. Q. David Bowers (1993) does speak of a few bags emerging from storage in the San Francisco Mint during the 1950s, but the number of Mint State 1884-S dollars from all sources is in no way sufficient to meet current market demand for this popular and widely collected series. Among the more significant Morgan dollar offerings in the present sale, this impressive 1884-S represents an important bidding opportunity that is not to be missed.
