"S$1" has GOT to go!

topstuf

How many times do you see " S $ 1" on a slab and mistake it for an "S" mint?

1887 S $ 1..............is not an 1887 S.

"$1" makes all the sense anyone needs.

Louis

Been there, done that.

ER

Then there are those who mistake $ for the S mint mark.
Topstuf, did you buy the wrong coin?

Cam40

lol
ya its tricky huh

it means silver unless its just to the right of the date, then its a mint mark

flaminio

<< <i>How many times do you see " S $ 1" on a slab and mistake it for an "S" mint?

1887 S $ 1..............is not an 1887 S.

"$1" makes all the sense anyone needs. >>



Actually, in this case -- it's not. If I tell you I have an 1887 $1, can you tell me what metal it's made of? Sure, if you have the coin in hand it's obvious, but what if you're looking through a price sheet? Or entering items in a database? There's a significant difference, and it needs to be annotated as such.

That said, I agree that the way it's written these days can be confusing -- especially with sellers not standardizing on how to write mintmarks. Let me threadjack a bit -- what is the correct way to note a mintmark:

a) 1887-S
b) 1887 S
c) 1887S

If I made it a poll, I'll bet 90%+ would say (a). So then why don't more people, and especially dealers, write it that way? A quick glance through eBay will show all sorts of travesties of this nature. If people could standardize on a specific format, all these problems would go away. Heck, just copying the text from the slab would be sufficient -- yet it seems few are capable of this.

coinchallenged

Bob, if it was an 1887 $1 in your hand and it wasn't silver, it would either have to be currency or a pattern. Right?

nwcs

If a 1887 $1 is not in 90% silver then it would be a mint error coin. So leaving off the S or G (for gold) really doesn't hurt anything. I think it can be confusing myself.

flaminio

Am I misremembering this stuff? I'm at work so I don't have my references around. Weren't there regular circulation 1887 gold dollars? Just saying "1887 $1" is ambiguous. That's a problem.

nwcs

They can put "GOLD" on the second line. The same as what they do with 1878 dollars with TRADE and MORGAN.

ER

Bob, you are fired!

KlectorKid

Actually its not a mint error if its not 90% silver because 7,500 gold dollars from 1887 were produced along with 1,043 proofs.

nwcs

Like I said, they could put GOLD or some other note on the second line.

crito

Oh yeah, well, what if it's a gold $1 pattern struck on a copper planchet with a silver plug in the middle? Huh? That won't fit on the second line.

Shamika

Ditch the S or write “Silver” on the slab!

flaminio

<< <i>Bob, you are fired! >>



Heh -- actually, if I were pope of this dump, I'd put Ag for silver and Au for gold -- but I'm kind of a chem geek that way.

1jester

Flaminio, that's exactly what I was thinking. And it doesn't have to be on the first line.

ER

<< <i>........ I'd put Ag for silver and Au for gold -- but I'm kind of a chem geek that way. >>


Yeah, here is one coin that shouldn 't confuse anyone: 1878 1 Ag dollar graded by PCGS AU50,
or, how abou this one: 1855 1 Au dollar raw graded AG to AU?

cherrypickincoin

LOL this is getting funny...

Conder101

Too much info ER. Try 1887 AG Au $ or 1887 AU Ag $.