1893-O $1 MS DMPL

Key to Collecting: If you like a challenge, the 1893-O presents one. Many are peppered with bagmarks. Mint State coins are very elusive in both an absolute and a relative (to the demand) sense. Choice MS-64 coins are rare and MS-65 coins are of suffcient fame that an auction house might showcase one in a news release. Worn 1893-O dollars are fairly scarce, as the low mintage might suggest (the smallest figure of any New Orleans Mint dollar of type), and are a worthwhile buy for anyone not wanting to pay for a Mint State coin.

Surface Quality: Striking is usually below average, but sometimes sharp on the reverse and, on the same coin, light at the center of the obverse. Searching is required to locate an overall sharp example. Luster is often, dare I say, lackluster? However, there are exceptions to be found.

Prooflike Coins: Prooflike coins are seldom encountered, and when they are, quality is often lacking.

Mintage and Distribution: Delivery figures by month: January, 300,000; February– December, 0. Not much can be written about the distribution of 1893-O dollars, as little is known. Many were distributed in the early days, accounting for the worn pieces in existence now. From about 1948 to 1955 several thousand or more coins were paid out from the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., seemingly in singles and groups, as no record has been found of a full bag. The Treasury release of 1962 through 1964 included scattered coins, but, again, no account has been found of even a single bag.

There are several positional varieties for the 1893-O, none spectacular. Ten obverse dies were sent to New Orleans this year, but enough reverses were on hand that no more were needed.