1879-S Morgan Dollar


1879-S Morgan Dollar

Reverse of 1878

Circulation Mintage: 500,000
Obverse Text: 1879 | LIBERTY | E PLURIBUS UNUM
Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | ONE DOLLAR | IN GOD WE TRUST | S

Guidelines for Collecting:

The 1879-S Morgan dollar comes in two varieties: the Reverse of 1878, Type 2, (PAF), with flat eagle’s breast and top arrow feathers, is quite rare; the variety with Type 3 Reverse (Reverse of 1879), listed separately, is much more common. Dealers and collectors were largely unaware of the rarer variety with the Reverse of 1878 until recent decades.

Coins are usually well struck, with a weak appearance of the eagle due to the flat breast of the Type 2 Reverse. The individual feathers are usually well struck. Coins of this type have attractive, frosty luster.

1879 s morgan silver dollar reverse of 1878 die comparison

1879-S, Reverse of 1878
1879 s morgan silver dollar reverse of 1879 die comparison

1879-S, Reverse of 1879

Availability in Circulated Grades:

As with most dates of the era, circulated pieces are available with VF to AU typical for survivors. These were widely distributed at the time of issue.

Availability in Mint State Grades:

Coins up to and including Mint State-65 can be found though the higher up the grading scale, the scarcer the grade designation is likely to be. As can be seen by the estimated mintage, the variety is scarce across the board. Indeed, the variety was only discovered in the 1980s at which time its scarce nature was revealed. MS-63 has proven to be an ideal grade for this scarce variety—top-quality pieces without heavy bagmarks can be cherrypicked by those with patience.

Availability in Proof:

None produced.

View 1879-S, Reverse of 1878 Morgan Dollar Auction Results

The example to the left was sold by Stack's Bowers Galleries in the Larry H. Miller Collection, where it realized $10,800.

1879-S, Reverse of 1878 Morgan Dollar Auction Highlights

1879-s morgan silver dollar

1879-S Reverse of 1878
Morgan Dollar
PCGS MS-65, CAC

Sold for $31,200
 
View Lot 6305
1879 s reverse of 1878 morgan dollar price guide value

1879-S Reverse of 1878
Morgan Dollar
NGC MS-65 PL

Sold for $6,900
 
View Lot 2728
1878 san francisco rev 1878 morgan dollar

1879-S Reverse of 1878
Morgan Dollar
PCGS MS-63

Sold for $6,600
 
View Lot 12155

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