1878-s Seated Quarters and Half Dollars
Manifest_Destiny
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1878 was a pivotal year for coinage as the three (soon to be four) operating mints geared up for Morgan Dollar production mandated by the Bland-Allison Act. The only minor coins produced at San Francisco were quarters and half dollars, both of which are key dates in their series.
The half dollar, with only 12,000 minted, is a major rarity and only about 50 are estimated to survive. The only seated halves rarer than the 1878-s are the 1853-o no arrows and the 1842 reverse of 39, both of which have 4 known and are considered non collectible.
There were 140,000 1878-s quarters minted but most were probably melted and they're far scarcer than the mintage would indicate. The 1878-s quarter is one of the keys to the set and is extremely hard to find without problems. Here is my VF details example, one of only 3 coins in my set that isn't straight graded.
Comments
Ron,
I agree, the 1878-S quarter is tougher than its mintage would indicate. I've owned two F examples and
this PCGS XF40 CAC specimen.
Doug
My 1878-s quarter is PCGS AU50, but it isn't a peach for the grade. It's more like, "I guess you have to call that AU."
The 1878-s was long regarded as a top-5 key date in the series, but its desirability faded over time until it was finally considered overrated by the early 2000s. As a result, it languished in price guides the past 20 years. Guess what? It actually is a key date. Its reputation unfairly took a hit because 1878-s quarters are available in nice grades including Unc., whereas earlier S-mints are condition rarities, some of which are unknown in Unc. (e.g. 1859-s). In terms of total known populations in all grades, 1878-s is easily scarcer than 1859-s.
p35 here...
I just got this F12 straight graded coin to replace my cleaned VF details above. Now there are only two details coins left in my set. I believe this coin once belonged to Doug @Crepidodera
Yes, I owned the coin from 2016-2018. You'll like the coin Don.
Doug
I think I have your old 70-cc also.
Don,
Another very nice coin I once owned.
Doug
This coin just sold on ebay. I didn't win it and I wish I'd have bid higher. Looks like it's been off the market since the 80's. My guess is it will grade VF25. Tough coin.
Don, I think Littleton graded it correctly, I see it as F15 max. Your new F12 is a more wholesome coin.
Doug
I don't consider the scarcity of the 1878-S half comparable to the other two. Date/MM versus die varieties.
My 78-S half, recently upgraded end of last year
WOW
Wow, Okiedude, great coin!!!
An authorized PCGS dealer, and a contributor to the Red Book.
Reholder Trueview
The actual look of the coin is somewhere in between the two pics.
Holy crap that’s a hell of a 78s half
11.5$ Southern Dollars, The little “Big Easy” set
Nice upgrade!
Oh, and Thanks for upgrading!
I
this thread.
Current coin in my set. I don't really like it though. It's one case where the trueview actually looks better than the coin in hand.