1885-S $1 MS DMPL

Key to Collecting: The 1885-S dollar fits into the medium-scarce category, neither common nor rare. There are enough around that for a reasonable price you can easily own an MS-63 or MS-64, but not so easy for an MS-65. Many are softly struck, more like a typical New Orleans dollar than one from San Francisco, so you will need to spend some time searching.

Surface Quality: Most have some flatness at the center of the obverse and the center of the reverse, in contrast to most earlier-dated San Francisco coins, which are well struck. Some excellent strikes exist of 1885-S, but searching is needed to find them. Most are with attractive luster.

Prooflike Coins: Some are from prooflike dies, sometimes on one side only. DMPLs exist and are very rare.

Mintage and Distribution: Delivery figures by month: January, 500,000; February, 500,000; March, 200,000; April, 100,000; May, 100,000; June, 50,000; July, 0; August, 47,000; September–December, 0. Quantities of 1885-S were stored for years at the San Francisco Mint. Occasionally, a few bags would fall into the hands of dealers, this being the case in the 1950’s, while in the meantime others would be shipped to Nevada and enter circulation via the gaming tables. Further bags were paid out during the Treasury release of 1962 through 1964, but not many in comparison to the deluge of New Orleans coins.

No dramatic die varieties exist for this year. Among 20 pairs of dies used, VAM-6 is interesting in that it shows a sharply repunched S, the final S mintmark being larger and to the right of the outline of an earlier S.