1878-S 25C MS(PCGS#5510)

Spring 2025 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

拍卖行

Stack's Bowers

批号

3043

等级

MS64

价格

79,378

详细说明

High in the Condition Census for this challenging issue, this is a lovely near-Gem with full mint bloom in a frosty to semi-prooflike finish. Fully struck from the dies, and expertly preserved thereafter, this coin is highly recommended for inclusion in the finest Liberty Seated quarter set. Presenting as brilliant at most angles, we do note the lightest pinkish-silver iridescence to the surfaces.<p>The San Francisco Mint produced 140,000 quarters in 1878, a modest quantity by any reckoning, which appears to have taken place in its entirety in the early part of the year. In February, Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act which specified a monthly requirement to mint large quantities of silver dollars. To help prepare for the new Morgan dollars, huge quantities of minor silver coins were melted down, to include a substantial portion of 1878-S quarters and half dollars, and even many trade dollars. This wholesale destruction was further exacerbated by the Mint Act of 1871 which specified the redemption of minor silver coins in any amount. As a direct result, what would have been a moderately scarce issue turned into one of the keys for the Liberty Seated quarter series. Due in part to the demands placed on the mints to meet the specifications of the Bland-Allison Act, production of this denomination ceased in its entirety at the San Francisco Mint and would not resume there until 1888. (The sudden release of older silver coins that had been hoarded since early in the Civil War also helps to explain the limited mintages of circulation strike quarters during the late 1870s and throughout the 1880s.) Today, an estimated 300 or so 1878-S quarters are thought to exist, of which a significant proportion are well circulated. Even Mint State examples, when found at all, are mostly in lower grades. Premium near-Gem survivors, as here, are significant rarities worthy of inclusion in the finest cabinets.