1892-S Morgan Silver Dollar. MS-60 (NGC). This is a highly significant survivor and a sought-after condition rarity in the Morgan dollar series. Untoned silver-white surfaces allow ready appreciation of full mint luster in a soft, satiny texture. The strike is generally sharp, if not full, and we note only a trace of softness to the central high points. The in hand appearance is remarkably smooth for the assigned grade, and, in truth, there are no significant blemishes to report. Given the legendary status of the 1892-S Morgan dollar in Mint State, this endearing NGC PCGS MS-60 is sure to have no difficulty finding its way into an advanced cabinet.<p>The 1892-S is a Morgan dollar that makes the series both interesting to study and challenging to collect. On one hand, well worn survivors in grades such as Good and VG are readily obtainable, despite a mintage of 1,200,000 pieces. Conversely, the 1892-S is one of the rarest issues of its type in Mint State. We suspect that a significant portion of the mintage was placed into commercial channels during the final years of the 19th century or early in the 20th century. Most coins remained in circulation for many years, explaining the sizable population of well worn survivors. According to Q. David Bowers (<em>Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia</em>, 1993), at least one original bag was paid out by the San Francisco Mint during the 1920s. The rest of the mintage was almost certainly included among the 270,232,722 silver dollars that the federal government melted pursuant to the terms of the 1918 Pittman Act. As far as numismatic scholars know, this issue was not included in the silver dollar releases from the San Francisco Mint during the 1940s or 1950s, nor was it represented in the Treasury Department releases of 1962 to 1964. Today, the rarity of the 1892-S in Mint State is well known among Morgan dollar enthusiasts. With market appearances of such pieces few and far between, the opportunity to acquire this Mint State example deserves serious consideration.
