Silver Dollar, 1883, NGC MS 68

The obverse primarily white, with some mottled toning at the beading; the reverse toning encircles the peripheries with hues of sea green to pale gold. With the remarkable surface lustre that Wayne Miller has described as “sandblast” and about which he explained, “[t]he most plausible explanation for this phenomenon is rusted dies.” Evidence of this rust is apparent under high magnification on the head of Liberty. The coin is essentially blemish free. A superb gem that is one of the finest extant; rare thus.

Certificate Number: 287642-003 (NGC 5 holder). Of the more than 50,000 times NGC and PCGS have graded examples of this issue only eight specimens have been cited as being this fine (five at NGC and three at PCGS), a single MS 68+ has been graded by PCGS (sold by Legend Rare Coin Auctions in 2015 for $49,938).