Silver Dollar, 1882-O, O over S (Strong), NGC MS 65

A gently toned example, with a very pale golden hue at the center; both the obverse and reverse exhibit blue-green to russet peripheral toning. A generally well struck example with most of the hair visible over Liberty’s ear; with glossy lustre and some reflectivity in the fields. The curve of the S clearly visible and recessed in the hollow of the O. An extraordinarily fresh coin which is essentially free of bagmarks or other abrasions. As is normal for this variety, the reverse die is well-rusted, with the ‘pimpling’ most apparent in the wings of the eagle. Although seldom noted, the obverse die is also rusted, most clearly evident on the cheek and just under Liberty’s eye. An exceptionally fine example, one of the finest known.

The O over S variety was prepared from three dies originally intended for use in San Francisco. As Bowers notes, the reason for this over-punching is unknown. However, the fact that both the obverse and reverse dies show clear evidence of rusting would seem to indicate the dies had been poorly stored for some time. Bowers also notes that the variety was not discovered until the 1960s. It is considerably rarer than the regular 1882-O issue, and John Highfill (1992, p. 975) notes: “If this were a date, not a variety, it would be the fifth rarest [of the entire Morgan dollar series], behind the 1884-S, 1889-CC, 1892-S, 1893-S, at least in mint state.” The variety was not represented in the PCGS Tour, and the coin used to illustrate the type in Highfill’s book was his own, which graded NGC 64.

Certificate Number: 287774-002 (NGC 5 holder). One of the finest known examples. The NGC database records only eight pieces of like grade, with none finer; similarly, PCGS has only graded two examples at this grade, and again, none finer. (02-18)