1889-O $1 MS PL

Key to Collecting: The 1889-O was struck in prodigious quantities, many of which were released into circulation in the nineteenth century and others of which were part of later Treasury holdings. Today Mint State coins are very common, but sharply struck gems with beautiful luster are rare. Gems exist and can be found.

Surface Quality: Usually lightly struck at the centers and not very satisfactory. Aggressive searching is needed to find a sharp one. Luster ranges from dull to somewhat frosty.

Prooflike Coins: Prooflike coins are seen with frequency, often having cameo contrast.

Mintage and Distribution: Delivery figures by month: January, 1,100,000; February, 1,000,000; March, 1,000,000; April, 1,100,000; May, 1,100,000; June, 1,100,000; July, 500,000; August, 975,000; September, 1,000,000; October, 1,000,000; November, 1,000,000; December, 1,000,000. Truly Mint State–quality examples of 1889-O were scarce in the several decades after they were minted, although lightly worn coins (sliders) were in abundance. However, in 1938, and possibly even before then, Mint State bags were paid out from the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C. Coins of this mint lacked the “numismatic magic” of their CC cousins, and little interest was expressed in them. Other bags were released now and again. During of the Treasury release of 1962 through 1964, only a few bags seem to have reached dealers, and most coins were poorly struck.

It is the rule that for each year of Morgan dollar a single style of four-digit logotype punch was used. Dies from all mints have the numerals spaced in the same proportion and the digits aligned the same vertically. However, 1889 is an exception, and on some dies the 88 digit pair is more closely spaced than the 89 digits (e.g., VAM-10), and vice versa on others (e.g., VAM-7 and others among Philadelphia coins; seemingly all branch mint coins).

Two varieties of O mintmarks were used this year, an elliptical O with a small, vertical, slit opening in the center, and the much more plentiful round O with wide opening at the center. Although many die varieties exist among 1889-O dollars, only a few are significant. VAM-6 displays date repunching, most prominent on the first two numerals. Several varieties exist with rotated reverse dies.

1889-O, Raised E on Reverse—VAM-1A. This variety shows a raised letter E between the eagle’s tail and the upper left of the ribbon, similar to a variety of 1886-O, but from a different reverse die. Such pieces are very scarce, “by far the rarest of the major ‘E’ clash dollars.”54