Q. David Bowers
Varieties
Business strikes:
1. Normal date: Breen-5637. No specimens are known to have survived, the aforementioned 1963 ANA Convention coin being a possible exception. No description of the dies can be given. There is a strong possibility that business strikes bearing the date 1895 were never struck at the Philadelphia Mint.
Proofs:
Proof issue: The following description of obverse die varieties of known authentic 1895 Proof dollars is from J.P. Martin of the American Numismatic Association Authentication Bureau:
1. 1895 Proof obverse die No.1: Numeral 1 in date tothe left of center over denticle. Left base of lover right half of denticle. Right base of lover left edge of denticle. Lower part of serif of 1 shows slight repunching. Ball of 5 over right half of denticle. Date seems to slant up very slightly to the right.
2. 1895 Proof obverse die No. 2: Numeral 1 in the date is centered over a denticle. Left base of 1 is over the right edge of a denticle, and the right base of 1 is over the left edge of a denticle. The ball of 5 is over the right edge of a denticle. The upper part of the 5 shows slight repunching. The bottom loop of the 9 is frosty rather than prooflike. The date seems to slant slightly up to the right.
3. 1895 Proof obverse die No.3: The numeral 1 in the date is to the right of the center over a denticle. The left base of the 1 is over the right edge of the denticle, and the right base of the 1 is over the left half of denticle. Ball of the 5 is above the space between denticles. The date slants slightly up to the right, with the distance between the 1 and the denticle being smaller than the distance between the 5 and the denticle under it, such proportional difference being greater than obverses 1, 2, and 4.
4. 1895 Proof obverse die No.4: The numeral 1 in the date is to the right of the center over the denticle. The left base of the 1 is over the left edge of a denticle, and the right base of the 1 is over the center of a denticle. The ball of the 5 is above the space between denticles. The date is level, and the distance between the 1 and the denticle somewhat below it and the 5 in the denticle below it are about the same-the only die with this characteristic.
Estimated quantity melted: If, indeed, they ever existed, 12,000 under terms of the 1918 Pittman Act.
Approximate population MS-60 to 65 or better: None confirmed known of business strikes (but see Proof listing)
Availability of proot1ike coins: None known Characteristics of striking: Unknown
Known hoards of Mint State coins: None
Approximate population G-4 to AU-58: None
Proofs:
Dies prepared: Obverse: 4; Reverse: 1 or more Proof mintage: 880; Delivery figures by month: January: none; February: none; March: 290; April: none; May: 180; June-August: none; September: 90; October: none; November: none; December: 320. - (URS-8)
Approximate population Proof-64: 126+/- (URS-9)
Approximate population Proof-63: 110+/- (URS-8)
Approximate population Proof-60 to 62: 325+/- (URS-10)
Approximate population Proof-65 or better: 106+/
Approximate population EF-40 to Proof-58: 25 to 50 (URS-6)
Commentary
Called "The King of Morgan Dollars," the 1895 is known only in Proof or impaired Proof form; no authentic business strikes have ever been confirmed by laboratory study, although one has been reported by John Jay Ford, Jr., who did not have the opportunity to examine it in detail.
Mosher on the 1895 Dollar
In an article, "Notes on 1895 Morgan Dollars" in The Numismatist, July 1955, Stuart Mosher noted the following:
"There was recently submitted to me for examination a U.S. silver dollar of 1895. It had been bought from a coin dealer who had described it as 'Extremely Fine, and in this condition, rarer than a Proof.' It was in nice condition except for the usual bruises found on most Morgan dollars that have been stored in bags in bank vaults for many years. Upon close inspection with a 20 power glass, it proved to be either an 1895-S or an 1895-O issue with the mintmark neatly removed.
"What with the silver dollar of 1895 becoming one of our modern numismatic rarities, this bit of skullduggery is not at all surprising. This instance is probably an isolated one, for any enterprising scoundrel, owning a tack hammer and a flat headed nail, can easily obliterate a mintmark on a silver dollar. Removing a mintmark in order to make a coin rare is an old trick. In this instance the collector is offered some protection if he investigates the background of the 1895 Philadelphia silver dollar.
"According to the official Mint Report, only 12,880 were coined at the Philadelphia mint in that year, with 880 being issued as Proofs. In the Aug. 1945 issue of The Numismatist, under Notes & Queries, I wrote: 'They (the 1895 silver dollars) catalogue at $5 in Uncirculated condition (but) it is doubtful if you could get one at that price. Proofs list at three times that amount ($15) and if you can find one for sale, you had better buy it at once. There are just not enough to go around.'
"There are those who claim that there is no such thing as an Uncirculated 1895-P silver dollar. Both [Wayte] Raymond and [Richard S.] Yeoman, after years of listing them, have dropped them from their catalogs in that condition. They are now listed only in Proof. As I recall seeing at least two of them in Uncirculated condition sometime in the 1930s, I believe that such coins do exist. A. Hepner of Washington, a member of the A.N.A. for over 50 years, tells me that he handled one years back. It was in only Very Fine condition.
"In a sales catalog put out by Wayte Raymond, Dec. 19, 1938, he states, in referring to Uncirculated Morgan dollars from 1879 to 1886 of the Philadelphia Mint as being 'Much rarer in Uncirculated condition than in Proof.' I agree with him entirely and do not hesitate to include all dates of Morgan dollars from the Philadelphia Mint.(Around this time, vast quantities of Uncirculated Morgan dollars of the Philadelphia Mint were released by the Treasury, and within a year or two, the dates mentioned by Mosher were exceedingly common in Mint State.However, Mosher had no way of anticipating this when he published his article in The Numismatist.) I should point out, however, that both in his catalog and here, the term 'Uncirculated' refers to coins without blemishes or signs of handling and not to the term as we often find it used today.
"For the last hundred years or more it has been customary for collectors of U.S. coins to buy sets of Uncirculated current coins directly from the Mint or Treasury Department. As 12,880 silver dollars were struck in 1895, it is unlikely that collectors were denied the opportunity to buy them directly from the Mint along with the other denominations of the same date. It would be interesting to hear from old-time collectors or from collectors who have fallen heir to old-time collections. Surely there must be a few Uncirculated 1895 silver dollars in them .... "