1884-S Morgan Dollar

The 1884-S Morgan Dollar was struck at the San Francisco Mint in 1884 and is part of the Morgan Dollar series.

Specifications

 * Designer: George T. Morgan
 * Obverse Design: Lady Liberty
 * Reverse Design: Eagle holding arrows and olive branch
 * Edge: Reeded
 * Weight: 26.73 grams
 * Diameter: 38.1 millimeters
 * Composition: Silver (90%), Copper (10%)
 * Mintage: Circulation Strikes: est. 3,200,000

Background
The 1884-S was minted in a fairly large number, over 3 million, but released into circulation immediately and, later, melted down in quantity. We therefore see a lot of circulated coins for the 1884-S from the 19th century and few in Mint State. Mint State 1884-S Morgan Dollars are hard to find and a key to this series.

Collecting
The 1884-S is a rarity in uncirculated condition, MS-60 and higher. You can find many examples of this coin in circulated grades.

The strike on these coins is typically dull to average with many examples having lost detail around the hair of Miss Liberty and the eagle's feathers. The luster on these coins is generally good without too much frost detail.

Prooflike coins are known to exist.

Historical Background in 1884
Mark Twain publishes The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Adventures of Huckleberry Finn was first published in England in December 1884 and in the United States in February 1885. Commonly named among the Great American Novels, the work is among the first in major American literature to be written in the vernacular, characterized by local color regionalism. It is told in the first person by Huckleberry "Huck" Finn, a friend of Tom Sawyer and narrator of two other Twain novels (Tom Sawyer Abroad and Tom Sawyer, Detective). It is a sequel to The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.

December 6, 1884, the Washington Monument is completed. The Washington Monument is an obelisk near the west end of the National Mall in Washington, D.C., built to commemorate the first U.S. president, General George Washington. The monument, made of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, is both the world's tallest stone structure and the world's tallest obelisk, standing 555 feet 51⁄8 inches (169.294 m).

On August 5, 1884, the cornerstone for the Statue of Liberty is laid on Bedloe's Island in New York Harbor. The Statue of Liberty is a colossal neoclassical sculpture on Liberty Island in New York Harbor, designed by Frédéric Bartholdi and dedicated on October 28, 1886. The statue, a gift to the United States from the people of France, is of a robed female figure representing Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom, who bears a torch and a tabula ansata (a tablet evoking the law) upon which is inscribed the date of the American Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1776. A broken chain lies at her feet. The statue has become an icon of freedom and of the United States.

Die Varieties

 * VAM-1 Normal Die
 * VAM-2 S Tilted Right
 * VAM-3 Far Date, S/S Left
 * VAM-4 Far Date
 * VAM-4A Far Date, Die Chip Right Wreath
 * VAM-4B Far Date, Die Chip Left Side Left Wreath
 * VAM-4C Far Date, Die Chip Left Side Left Wreath #2 (Eliminated, same as VAM-4A)
 * VAM-4D Far Date, Die Chip Eyebrow
 * VAM-5 Very Far Date
 * VAM-6 Far Date, S Set Left
 * VAM-7 S/S High, Very Far Date
 * VAM-8 18 in Denticles, Far Date, S Set Left
 * VAM-9 884 in Denticles, Far Date
 * VAM-10 Doubled Date, Far Date, S Set Left
 * VAM-11 S/S Filled, Very Far Date