1873-S Liberty Seated Dollar - fact or fiction?

Comet

Although 700 coins were allegedly minted not one example has been found in over 130 years. Six pairs of dies were shipped from Philadelphia to San Francisco in 11/1872. A letter dated 03/05/1873 showed that a package of assay coins which included 'one standard silver dollar' was shipped from the San Francisco Mint via Wells Fargo to the superintendent of the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia. Is this proof that the 1873-S dollars were struck? Or could it be as simple as the assay coin and the other 699 were 1872-S leftovers (the San Francisco Mint had a habit of rounding off to $1,000 bags in their books in this era) of a partial bag from the previous year?

lclugza

I read something that said there's a rumor that a mutilated 1873S Seated dollar exists that was used by the assay commission. But remeber, this is only a rumor.
In that era, a lot of nearly complete mintages were apparently melted if the coins were considered unneeded, or if they were struck based on laws that had since been changed: However, some of the mintages of these "lost" coins could have actually represented coins of other dates:

1876CC 20 cents
1873CC no arrows dime
1873CC no arrows quarter
1878S half dollar
1878CC trade dollar
1873S no arrows half dollar
1873S Seated dollar
1895 business strike dollar
1862 to 1873 business strike 3 cents silver