1875 G$1 MS66 Certification #24463231, PCGS #7576

Akers/Bass/CAC

David Akers (1975/88)

With a total issue of only 420 pieces, the 1875 has one of the lowest mintages of any regularly issued U.S. gold coin. With so low a mintage, essentially all specimens are "first strikes" and therefore invariably have full proof-like surfaces. This has given rise to the false notion that the 1875 gold dollar is more common in proof than it is in uncirculated condition. Most cataloguers have mistakenly called Uncs. "proofs" over the years. Actually, the Uncs. are readily distinguishable from the proofs because all uncirculated 1875 gold dollars have a small thorn-like projection from the throat into the field. This projection is seen only on the Uncs., not on the proofs, and no matter how much a particular 1875 may look like a proof, if it has the projection from the throat into the field, it is an Unc. Hopefully, auction cataloguers, dealers, and collectors alike will now put the myth of how much rarer an Unc. 1875 is than an 1875 proof to rest once and for all.