My apologies. I read the thread when it started, but expected the annual posting by the OP to be much slower. As a result, I missed 1853 and 1857. I’ll post them here as a “catch-up”. My only other Seated Quarter is 1880, so I’ll watch this thread closer.
I bought this 1853 coin in June 2020 from U.S. Coins and Jewelry in Houston as a 64 for my Type Set. I liked it so much when I received it in hand, that I sent it to PCGS for Reconsideration. They agreed, and gave it a 64+. Since the cert # remained the same, CAC automatically reapplied their sticker for a $5 fee.
Just like the above coin with an upgrade with a plus via Reconsideration, I bought this 1857 Seated Quarter in March 2020 for my Type Set as a 65 from Coast Coin. Once again, PCGS agreed with me, as it came back as 65+. This coin had a CAC sticker at the time of purchase, and as above, CAC automatically reapplied the sticker since the cert number remained the same.
With BOTH coins, the CAC sticker being reapplied would NOT have been automatic had the increase in grade been to the next higher whole grade (or higher).
Steve
A day without fine wine and working on your coin collection is like a day without sunshine!!!
@winesteven "I read the thread when it started, but expected the annual posting by the OP to be much slower." me
too.
...Did you miss the part where we are going to continue through American Woman!
Anacs p45 sold to @coinlieutenant ...I miss this coin! I waved goodbye to here again on Ebay
p50 from Northeast. Great seller BTW.
p35 crusty from GFRC 2015
It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
@Crepidodera Yes, the 1864 quarter looks like its True View, though it's been a while since I looked at it in person. I was fortunate to get that one in a Heritage auction during a period when not many people were after the proofs.
@fastfreddie said: @winesteven "I read the thread when it started, but expected the annual posting by the OP to be much slower." me
too.
...Did you miss the part where we are going to continue through American Woman?
I did miss that part. But my choice is to stop after posting my 1880 Seated Quarter. Others can proceed after the last "real" date if they choose.
Thanks.
Steve
A day without fine wine and working on your coin collection is like a day without sunshine!!!
Trusting I am not crashing the party ... I'll toss one more of my "IN GOD WE TRUST" 25C Patterns for 1865 into the mix - again struck in copper. I had focused on a small pattern collection by assembling a copper set of these Liberty Seated "IN GOD WE TRUST" pieces from 1863,1864 and 1865. The mint struck these "Transitional" types in the 3 major denominations i.e. 25C, 50C and 1$ and I assembled one copper specimen for each for the 3 years.
This specific pieces was traced to being the Corrado Romano Estate (Stack's, 6/1987), and the Lemus Collection, Queller Family Collection (Heritage, 1/2009) where is was graded as a NGC PF65BN. While the Judd reference guide indicated the rarity of Low R.7 ( less than 12 pieces extant) - at least 18 specimens had been traced by Saul Teichman of USPatterns.com making rarity scale well into the R.6 Range.
OMG ... My Mother was Right about Everything!
I wake up with a Good Attitude Every Day. Then … Idiots Happen!
Great coin, but you're way ahead. The OP set up this thread to show one year at a time, following his lead in him posting his current and past years quarters for one year at a time. I believe they're currently up to 1865.
Steve
A day without fine wine and working on your coin collection is like a day without sunshine!!!
Now that Ron has posted his 1865 beauties, let's move on to 1866. A very tough year for liberty seated quarters.
PCGS VG10 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2020.
PCGS F12 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2020.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a GFRC auction in 2021, the current coin in my set.
PCGS F12 CAC - purchased from Revick Galstaun in 2015.
PCGS VG10 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2020.
PCGS VG8 - purchased from Americana Rare Coins in 2024, the current coin in my set. This coin completed my 108 coin set, but it's strictly a placeholder until I find a nicer coin. The coin is dark grey and looks nothing like the Trueview photo.
Die polish lines vs. harsh cleaning accounted for the stunning transformation from NCS Details to PCGS 64 CAC. All 1866 business strikes have heavy die polish lines and a mushy reverse strike. If they don't, then y'all found yourself a misattributed proof.
I didn't get the upgrade on that coin - somebody else did - but I did manage to buy it like 40-50% under PCGS price guide due to its illustrious history with NCS. I'm now invested in it for much less than 50% of price guide, or closer to VF-XF money.
Ron, I've never heard of that kind of reversal before!
OK, it's been a few hours, let's move on to 1867.
PCGS XF45 CAC - purchased from GFRC IN 2016.
PCGS VF35 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2019.
PCGS XF40 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2022.
PCGS XF40 CAC - from an eBay auction in 2024, the current coin in my set.
PCGS VF25 - purchased from the Carolina collection in 2014.
PCGS VF25 - purchased from GFRC in 2019.
PCGS VF35 CAC - purchased from David Bozsik in 2022, the current coin in my set. This is a tough date to find nice. Even though this example is CAC approved, I wouldn't call it choice.
@Crepidodera said:
Freddie, your 1867-S is much nicer than my example!
I don't know. I always thought that 35 was a gift. But when CAC agreed...I guess. Reverse looks weak but the coin is original. Not crazy about the spots. You take what you can find.
It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
1868 is another interesting year in liberty seated quarter production. The Philadelphia mint coin is tough, but priced significantly lower than the 1866, 1867, and 1869 quarters. The 1868-S quarter is the most available 1860's San Francisco quarter in my opinion. I'd like to hear Ron, Don, and Freddie's opinion.
PCGS AU50 CAC - purchased from the Carolina collection in 2014.
PCGS VG10 CAC - purchased from Vern Sebby in 2015.
PCGS VF35 CAC - purchased from Vern Sebby in 2021.
PCGS VF30 CAC - from a GFRC auction in 2022, the current coin in my set. Under graded.
PCGS F12 - purchased from Lenny Rizzo in 2015.
PCGS XF40 - purchased from Harry Laibstain in 2016.
PCGS VF30 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2019.
PCGS XF45 CAC - from a DLRC auction in 2022, the current coin in my set.
1868 PCGS VF30 - a raw Buy It Now on Ebay for $200 that I saw before the rest of you saw it. Hahah.
1868-S PCGS VF30 - has a few circulation marks as many of this date do
The more available S-mints from the 1860-1870 era are 1862-S, 1868-s, and 1869-s. The rest of them are all very scarce to rare. 1868-s and 1869-s are easier to locate in XF or better than 1862-S.
gee I almost missed the one year that I have a Seated Quarter with obverse and reverse as used for the the year (without changes)... however, it was struck in copper.
My 1867 25C Quarter Dollar, Judd-590, Rarity is High R.7, with about 7 believed extant
Some of these off metal strikes were once thought of as trial pieces, they are now widely believed to have been struck for collectors well connected to the mint.
Saul Teichman of USpatterns.com traced 7 examples and he posted a note that 2 others were stolen from Iowa State Historical Museum.
OMG ... My Mother was Right about Everything!
I wake up with a Good Attitude Every Day. Then … Idiots Happen!
15 years ago it seemed that you could fine Philly 1868's. I purchased a p50 from Brian Greer but eventually became unsatisfied with the light hairlines as it had PL surfaces. It's surprising that the 1868 SF is available with all the tough San Francisco dates around it; especially the 70-s! The availability of the 1868 SF might just be a cyclical shift. 15 years ago Philly and SF both were available to some extent. @roadrunner
1868-s p30 cac ex Doug. Formally p35
It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
I posed the question in 2010 about the difference in 1868 Philly vs. San Francisco and Brian @Roadrunner had this interesting analysis.
"My question is, for example, why would an 1868 Frisco quarter be more scarce than the Philly version? Mintage records are 96k and 29k respectively....assuming the mint records are accurate, and all else equal, the Philly quarters for these three years should be much tougher (expecially in higher grades) than their Frisco counterpart. Yet the population reports show higher pop's for Philly in 1867 and 1868 but not 1869."
""The Philly coins of 1868 and 1869 are rarer than their S mint counterparts. In fact I place the 65-s, 68-s, and 69-s coins in the category of most available S mints of the 1860's. But I wouldn't hang my hat on the pop reports unless you are looking at only unc coins and particularly MS63 and above. Few long time collectors have yet bothered to send in their circ 1868 and 1867 P mints. Ask Ray (lathmach) how many of his are slabbed. One downside to the Philly coins is that relatively "cheap" proof versions exist to satisfy demand and to some extent limit the price of the very desireable VF-AU circs. There is no such issue with an S mint seated quarter.
The 1867-s is a different animal than the 65-s, 68-s and 69-s. I've followed that date since 1973 and it just doesn't show up, especially above F-VF. For some reason it's survival rate is much lower than the others above, including the 1867 P. Survival rates are all that count and sometimes we just can't make 100% sense why one date survived in quantity and another one didn't. I've always felt that very few S mint coins made their way out from the west where they were either heavily used or immediately melted, sent out of the country, etc. Considering that a legit gold standard was not in effect from 1861-1879 might explain why some coins of that era didn't survive, esp during the war and the years immediately following it. Gold went briefly to $165/oz in 1869 which gives an idea of some of the monetary issues of that time. In 1873 the quarter's weight was slightly increased from 6.22 grains to 6.25. Maybe that caused people to want to get rid of the lighter 1853-1872 quarters as quick as they got them (money velocity = coin wear) even if the net change was a mere 1/2%. The pre-1853 seated quarters were a heft 6.68 grams and explains why few of them didn't survive subsequent meltings in the early 1850's despite some pretty hefty mintages. The 1851-0 and 52-0 with mintages close to 90,000 each were probably melted soon after issuance.
While the 69-s quarter is somewhat available, the 71-s and 72-s are not. Whatever problems occured in that time frame continued right up until 1872. The 1872-s quarter has one of the highest mintages of all the 1857-1872 S mints yet is the rarest or no worst than tied for rarest of all S mint quarters (60-s is a worthy competitor with 64-s and 71-s not that far behind). The 1901-s would barely make the top 20 of the rarest S mint quarters.
The 55-s to 59-s coins are all available if you don't mind lower grade (G-F) pieces as the norm. But it seems odd that the tough 60-s is then followed by 2 easier years, then comes the tough 64-s, followed by the much easier 65-s, then two toughies in the 66-s and 67-s, followed by 2 much easier ones in the 68-s and 69-s, followed again by 2 real toughies in the 71-s and 72-s. I can't explain the why, only that it's what my experiences have shown over the past 35 years. In looking at that 1863-1870 Philly run their rarity/extant pops seems to more closely mirror their mintages. But just like with the S mints in 1871-1872, that thumbrule goes out the window. The mintages in Philly in 1871 and 1872 ramped up sharply to 119K and 183K respectively yet those dates are every bit as rare as half of the earlier dates. For some reason P/S quarters in 1871 and 1872 did not survive in proportion to their stated mintages. Mintage figures? They are only a starting point at best. The tiny 20,000 mintage of the 64-s and 30,000 of the 71-s tend to demonstrate their toughness. Yet the fairly available 65-s at 41,000 is a head-fake compared to the 56,000 of the super tough 1860-s.
roadrunner""
It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
On to 1869, another interesting year. In my opinion, the P mint coin is one of the toughest in the set. The S mint coin, while scarce, is one of the more available in the 1860s.
PCGS VF25 - purchased from Harry Laibstain in 2016.
PCGS XF40 - purchased from Lenny Rizzo, also in 2016.
PCGS VF35 - purchased from GFRC IN 2017.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2019.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a DLRC auction in 2022, the current coin in my set.
PCGS VF35 - from a Teletrade auction in 2011, forgot about this one.
PCGS F15 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2019.
PCGS VF30 CAC - purchased from GFRC IN 2020.
PCGS VF20 CAC - purchased from US Coins and Jewelry in 2022, the current coin in my set.
Super!
My lowly p25. I had a p40 that I made myself that I purchased from Rich Uhrich but I traded it to Walt Kennedy along with my 1869-s p45 purchased from Harry Laibstain.
It is not that life is short, but that you are dead for so very long.
1870, the first year of production at the historic Carson City mint.
PCGS AU55 CAC - purchased from Tom Bush Numismatics in 2014.
PCGS X40 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2020.
PCGS VF20 CAC - purchased from Lenny Rizzo in 2022, the current coin in my set.
PCGS G6 - purchased from Brian Greer in 2017.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2019 as NGC VF25, the current coin in my set and my avatar coin. This coin failed at CAC on the first attempt. Sold to Vern Sebby in 2020 and sent by Vern to CAC where it passed. Repurchased from Vern in 2021. It's a privilege to own this coin!
Comments
@retirednow your patterns are amazing, thank you for your continued participation in this thread!
Doug
VF35 - This coin is battleship gray. Another victim of the crappy yellow tinted "true" views lately.
Nice looking 1863 Don!
VF25
VF35 - I consider the 64-s the rarest overall 55-65 San Fran quarter. One of my most recent pick ups.
Please post your 1865 quarters.
PCGS VF20 - purchased from David Kahn in 2014.
PCGS VF30 CAC - purchased from JJTeaparty in 2016.
PCGS VF25 CAC - purchased from West Coast Coins Oregon in 2020.
NGC VF30 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2022, the current coin in my set. Another coin from the John McCloskey collection.
PCGS VF30 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2015.
PCGS XF45 - purchased from the Carolina collection in 2019.
PCGS VF20 - purchased from Tough Coins in 2022, the current coin in my set.
My apologies. I read the thread when it started, but expected the annual posting by the OP to be much slower. As a result, I missed 1853 and 1857. I’ll post them here as a “catch-up”. My only other Seated Quarter is 1880, so I’ll watch this thread closer.
I bought this 1853 coin in June 2020 from U.S. Coins and Jewelry in Houston as a 64 for my Type Set. I liked it so much when I received it in hand, that I sent it to PCGS for Reconsideration. They agreed, and gave it a 64+. Since the cert # remained the same, CAC automatically reapplied their sticker for a $5 fee.
Just like the above coin with an upgrade with a plus via Reconsideration, I bought this 1857 Seated Quarter in March 2020 for my Type Set as a 65 from Coast Coin. Once again, PCGS agreed with me, as it came back as 65+. This coin had a CAC sticker at the time of purchase, and as above, CAC automatically reapplied the sticker since the cert number remained the same.
With BOTH coins, the CAC sticker being reapplied would NOT have been automatic had the increase in grade been to the next higher whole grade (or higher).
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
AU50
VF25
@winesteven "I read the thread when it started, but expected the annual posting by the OP to be much slower." me
too.
...Did you miss the part where we are going to continue through American Woman!
Anacs p45 sold to @coinlieutenant ...I miss this coin! I waved goodbye to here again on Ebay
p50 from Northeast. Great seller BTW.
p35 crusty from GFRC 2015
@Crepidodera Yes, the 1864 quarter looks like its True View, though it's been a while since I looked at it in person. I was fortunate to get that one in a Heritage auction during a period when not many people were after the proofs.
Thanks.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
Trusting I am not crashing the party ... I'll toss one more of my "IN GOD WE TRUST" 25C Patterns for 1865 into the mix - again struck in copper. I had focused on a small pattern collection by assembling a copper set of these Liberty Seated "IN GOD WE TRUST" pieces from 1863,1864 and 1865. The mint struck these "Transitional" types in the 3 major denominations i.e. 25C, 50C and 1$ and I assembled one copper specimen for each for the 3 years.
This specific pieces was traced to being the Corrado Romano Estate (Stack's, 6/1987), and the Lemus Collection, Queller Family Collection (Heritage, 1/2009) where is was graded as a NGC PF65BN. While the Judd reference guide indicated the rarity of Low R.7 ( less than 12 pieces extant) - at least 18 specimens had been traced by Saul Teichman of USPatterns.com making rarity scale well into the R.6 Range.
OMG ... My Mother was Right about Everything!
I wake up with a Good Attitude Every Day. Then … Idiots Happen!
Top 10 Cal Fractional Type Set
successful BST with Ankurj, BigAl, Bullsitter, CommemKing, DCW(7), Elmerfusterpuck, Joelewis, Mach1ne, Minuteman810430, Modcrewman, Nankraut, Nederveit2, Philographer(5), Realgator, Silverpop, SurfinxHI, TomB and Yorkshireman(3)
Great coin, but you're way ahead. The OP set up this thread to show one year at a time, following his lead in him posting his current and past years quarters for one year at a time. I believe they're currently up to 1865.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
@winesteven
thanks for the thread guidance and coin compliment !
Top 10 Cal Fractional Type Set
successful BST with Ankurj, BigAl, Bullsitter, CommemKing, DCW(7), Elmerfusterpuck, Joelewis, Mach1ne, Minuteman810430, Modcrewman, Nankraut, Nederveit2, Philographer(5), Realgator, Silverpop, SurfinxHI, TomB and Yorkshireman(3)
My pleasure, and MY apologies for acting like a cop, lol.
Steve
My collecting “Pride & Joy” is my PCGS Registry Dansco 7070 Set:
https://www.pcgs.com/setregistry/type-sets/design-type-sets/complete-dansco-7070-modified-type-set-1796-date/publishedset/213996
1865 PCGS VF35
1865 PCGS AU58
1865 PCGS PR64DCAM - plucked raw from that album I mentioned
1865-S PCGS VF25 CAC
Now that Ron has posted his 1865 beauties, let's move on to 1866. A very tough year for liberty seated quarters.
PCGS VG10 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2020.
PCGS F12 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2020.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a GFRC auction in 2021, the current coin in my set.
PCGS F12 CAC - purchased from Revick Galstaun in 2015.
PCGS VG10 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2020.
PCGS VG8 - purchased from Americana Rare Coins in 2024, the current coin in my set. This coin completed my 108 coin set, but it's strictly a placeholder until I find a nicer coin. The coin is dark grey and looks nothing like the Trueview photo.
My only....1866-s p35 bought here back in 2011 from @bidask
Not perfect but straight graded.
Agreed, this is a tough year. Probably the second rarest Philly and second rarest San Fran.
VF35 - cracked a VF30 ANACS slab
VF30 - Paid dearly in a bidding war for this one.
Great thread @Crepidodera!
The 1866 issues are so tough. Low mintage, poor dies/strikes/striations, heavy circulation, and numismatic abuse.
My 1866 Philly Mint Set
1866 now PCGS MS64 CAC. Ex. NCS Unc. Details - Improperly Cleaned
1866 PCGS PR65 CAC - Heritage auction, lot passed (for about 5 minutes before I called)
1866-s PCGS F12
1866-s AU Details
Quite an upgrade from UNC details!
Die polish lines vs. harsh cleaning accounted for the stunning transformation from NCS Details to PCGS 64 CAC. All 1866 business strikes have heavy die polish lines and a mushy reverse strike. If they don't, then y'all found yourself a misattributed proof.
I didn't get the upgrade on that coin - somebody else did - but I did manage to buy it like 40-50% under PCGS price guide due to its illustrious history with NCS. I'm now invested in it for much less than 50% of price guide, or closer to VF-XF money.
Ron, I've never heard of that kind of reversal before!
OK, it's been a few hours, let's move on to 1867.
PCGS XF45 CAC - purchased from GFRC IN 2016.
PCGS VF35 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2019.
PCGS XF40 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2022.
PCGS XF40 CAC - from an eBay auction in 2024, the current coin in my set.
PCGS VF25 - purchased from the Carolina collection in 2014.
PCGS VF25 - purchased from GFRC in 2019.
PCGS VF35 CAC - purchased from David Bozsik in 2022, the current coin in my set. This is a tough date to find nice. Even though this example is CAC approved, I wouldn't call it choice.
Late to the “party”, but I had to post this (purchased from Doug Wright in 2021):
@Crepidodera: fabulous thread! I feel like I’m going through a museum!
“The thrill of the hunt never gets old”
PCGS Registry: Screaming Eagles
Copperindian
Retired sets: Soaring Eagles
Copperindian
p35 cac from fellow member @Manorcourtman ... wonder if he saw the Eclipse today in the Toledo area?
Freddie, your 1867-S is much nicer than my example!
@rnkmyer1 that's a beauty, and welcome to the party!
1867 PCGS XF45
1867 PCGS PR64 - plucked raw from the album I mentioned
1867-s PCGS VF25 Ex. Doug, and neither one of us really likes it. It's just the best I can do right now.
I don't know. I always thought that 35 was a gift. But when CAC agreed...I guess. Reverse looks weak but the coin is original. Not crazy about the spots. You take what you can find.
Ron, your proofs are other worldly!
Another tough date.
VF35
VF35 - Recent DLRC auction.
1868 is another interesting year in liberty seated quarter production. The Philadelphia mint coin is tough, but priced significantly lower than the 1866, 1867, and 1869 quarters. The 1868-S quarter is the most available 1860's San Francisco quarter in my opinion. I'd like to hear Ron, Don, and Freddie's opinion.
PCGS AU50 CAC - purchased from the Carolina collection in 2014.
PCGS VG10 CAC - purchased from Vern Sebby in 2015.
PCGS VF35 CAC - purchased from Vern Sebby in 2021.
PCGS VF30 CAC - from a GFRC auction in 2022, the current coin in my set. Under graded.
PCGS F12 - purchased from Lenny Rizzo in 2015.
PCGS XF40 - purchased from Harry Laibstain in 2016.
PCGS VF30 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2019.
PCGS XF45 CAC - from a DLRC auction in 2022, the current coin in my set.
Sadly, the only 1866, 1867, 1868 I have. Way better than none.
1868 PCGS VF30 - a raw Buy It Now on Ebay for $200 that I saw before the rest of you saw it. Hahah.
1868-S PCGS VF30 - has a few circulation marks as many of this date do
The more available S-mints from the 1860-1870 era are 1862-S, 1868-s, and 1869-s. The rest of them are all very scarce to rare. 1868-s and 1869-s are easier to locate in XF or better than 1862-S.
gee I almost missed the one year that I have a Seated Quarter with obverse and reverse as used for the the year (without changes)... however, it was struck in copper.
My 1867 25C Quarter Dollar, Judd-590, Rarity is High R.7, with about 7 believed extant
Some of these off metal strikes were once thought of as trial pieces, they are now widely believed to have been struck for collectors well connected to the mint.
Saul Teichman of USpatterns.com traced 7 examples and he posted a note that 2 others were stolen from Iowa State Historical Museum.
OMG ... My Mother was Right about Everything!
I wake up with a Good Attitude Every Day. Then … Idiots Happen!
I agree, I think the 68-s is the most common quarter (Philly or SF) of any quarter 1866-1869.
VF20
VF20
Ron, that's a great coin for $200!
15 years ago it seemed that you could fine Philly 1868's. I purchased a p50 from Brian Greer but eventually became unsatisfied with the light hairlines as it had PL surfaces. It's surprising that the 1868 SF is available with all the tough San Francisco dates around it; especially the 70-s!
The availability of the 1868 SF might just be a cyclical shift. 15 years ago Philly and SF both were available to some extent. @roadrunner
1868-s p30 cac ex Doug. Formally p35
I posed the question in 2010 about the difference in 1868 Philly vs. San Francisco and Brian @Roadrunner had this interesting analysis.
"My question is, for example, why would an 1868 Frisco quarter be more scarce than the Philly version? Mintage records are 96k and 29k respectively....assuming the mint records are accurate, and all else equal, the Philly quarters for these three years should be much tougher (expecially in higher grades) than their Frisco counterpart. Yet the population reports show higher pop's for Philly in 1867 and 1868 but not 1869."
""The Philly coins of 1868 and 1869 are rarer than their S mint counterparts. In fact I place the 65-s, 68-s, and 69-s coins in the category of most available S mints of the 1860's. But I wouldn't hang my hat on the pop reports unless you are looking at only unc coins and particularly MS63 and above. Few long time collectors have yet bothered to send in their circ 1868 and 1867 P mints. Ask Ray (lathmach) how many of his are slabbed. One downside to the Philly coins is that relatively "cheap" proof versions exist to satisfy demand and to some extent limit the price of the very desireable VF-AU circs. There is no such issue with an S mint seated quarter.
The 1867-s is a different animal than the 65-s, 68-s and 69-s. I've followed that date since 1973 and it just doesn't show up, especially above F-VF. For some reason it's survival rate is much lower than the others above, including the 1867 P. Survival rates are all that count and sometimes we just can't make 100% sense why one date survived in quantity and another one didn't. I've always felt that very few S mint coins made their way out from the west where they were either heavily used or immediately melted, sent out of the country, etc. Considering that a legit gold standard was not in effect from 1861-1879 might explain why some coins of that era didn't survive, esp during the war and the years immediately following it. Gold went briefly to $165/oz in 1869 which gives an idea of some of the monetary issues of that time. In 1873 the quarter's weight was slightly increased from 6.22 grains to 6.25. Maybe that caused people to want to get rid of the lighter 1853-1872 quarters as quick as they got them (money velocity = coin wear) even if the net change was a mere 1/2%. The pre-1853 seated quarters were a heft 6.68 grams and explains why few of them didn't survive subsequent meltings in the early 1850's despite some pretty hefty mintages. The 1851-0 and 52-0 with mintages close to 90,000 each were probably melted soon after issuance.
While the 69-s quarter is somewhat available, the 71-s and 72-s are not. Whatever problems occured in that time frame continued right up until 1872. The 1872-s quarter has one of the highest mintages of all the 1857-1872 S mints yet is the rarest or no worst than tied for rarest of all S mint quarters (60-s is a worthy competitor with 64-s and 71-s not that far behind). The 1901-s would barely make the top 20 of the rarest S mint quarters.
The 55-s to 59-s coins are all available if you don't mind lower grade (G-F) pieces as the norm. But it seems odd that the tough 60-s is then followed by 2 easier years, then comes the tough 64-s, followed by the much easier 65-s, then two toughies in the 66-s and 67-s, followed by 2 much easier ones in the 68-s and 69-s, followed again by 2 real toughies in the 71-s and 72-s. I can't explain the why, only that it's what my experiences have shown over the past 35 years. In looking at that 1863-1870 Philly run their rarity/extant pops seems to more closely mirror their mintages. But just like with the S mints in 1871-1872, that thumbrule goes out the window. The mintages in Philly in 1871 and 1872 ramped up sharply to 119K and 183K respectively yet those dates are every bit as rare as half of the earlier dates. For some reason P/S quarters in 1871 and 1872 did not survive in proportion to their stated mintages. Mintage figures? They are only a starting point at best. The tiny 20,000 mintage of the 64-s and 30,000 of the 71-s tend to demonstrate their toughness. Yet the fairly available 65-s at 41,000 is a head-fake compared to the 56,000 of the super tough 1860-s.
roadrunner""
Freddie, thanks for sharing that analysis.
On to 1869, another interesting year. In my opinion, the P mint coin is one of the toughest in the set. The S mint coin, while scarce, is one of the more available in the 1860s.
PCGS VF25 - purchased from Harry Laibstain in 2016.
PCGS XF40 - purchased from Lenny Rizzo, also in 2016.
PCGS VF35 - purchased from GFRC IN 2017.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2019.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a DLRC auction in 2022, the current coin in my set.
PCGS VF35 - from a Teletrade auction in 2011, forgot about this one.
PCGS F15 CAC - purchased from GFRC in 2019.
PCGS VF30 CAC - purchased from GFRC IN 2020.
PCGS VF20 CAC - purchased from US Coins and Jewelry in 2022, the current coin in my set.
VF20 - I have what will likely be a VF30 at PCGS right now as an upgrade.
VF25 - another victim of the yellow tinted trueviews
Does this look better? I saved your Trueview and opened and adjusted the saturation and warmth and resaved.
@fastfreddie Thanks! Yeah, it's a battleship gray coin. I have no idea what's going on with trueview lately.
Super!
My lowly p25. I had a p40 that I made myself that I purchased from Rich Uhrich but I traded it to Walt Kennedy along with my 1869-s p45 purchased from Harry Laibstain.
1869 PCGS XF40. This one was also posted by Doug above.
1869 PCGS XF40. Nice coin, but something seems inconsistent with the grading.
1869-S PCGS VF30 - very choice aside from a reverse rim nick. I also have an XF40 (see below).
1869-S PCGS XF40 - but is it really 10 points nicer than the above?
1870, the first year of production at the historic Carson City mint.
PCGS AU55 CAC - purchased from Tom Bush Numismatics in 2014.
PCGS X40 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2020.
PCGS VF20 CAC - purchased from Lenny Rizzo in 2022, the current coin in my set.
PCGS G6 - purchased from Brian Greer in 2017.
PCGS VF25 CAC - from a Heritage auction in 2019 as NGC VF25, the current coin in my set and my avatar coin. This coin failed at CAC on the first attempt. Sold to Vern Sebby in 2020 and sent by Vern to CAC where it passed. Repurchased from Vern in 2021. It's a privilege to own this coin!
