1895-S

The 1895-S, at 400,000 pieces, is a recognized Key Date and one of the lowest San Francisco Morgan Dollar mintages of the series outside the apex 1893-S Key. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act had been repealed in November 1893, and 1895 Morgan Dollar production reflects Treasury's wind-down silver-coining operations across all operating mints. The 1895-S carries the standard Reverse of 1879 hub configuration with no documented sub-varieties anchoring the year's specialist collecting beyond the date itself.

Strike quality on the 1895-S is consistently sharp on early-die-state examples, with Liberty's hair detail and the eagle's central feathers coming up cleanly on most coins. The issue's collecting profile centers on circulation losses and limited Treasury bag distribution rather than die-quality concerns. Most surviving examples grade VF to AU from heavy western circulation, with PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC populations clustering at EF and AU. MS60 examples are condition-scarce, MS63 is genuinely rare, and MS65 and above is among the trophy pickups of the S-mint Morgan series. The 1895-S saw very limited Treasury bag distribution and the modern collector market depends on older single-coin holdings.

The 1895-S is a recognized Key Date and pairs with the 1893-S, 1889-CC, 1894-P, 1895-O, and 1895 proof as the principal Morgan series Keys. Pricing trades at premium levels at every grade, with the gap from AU to MS63 substantial and the climb to MS65 dramatic. Counterfeit 1895-S coins exist; certified slabs from PCGS or NGC are the standard purchase route at the price levels this issue commands. San Francisco Morgan collecting interest has held a stable mid-grade pricing floor across two decades, with PCGS and NGC populations reflecting the Treasury bag-distribution profile of the 1950s and 1960s. Registry-set demand at the top-pop grade tier produces sharp price acceleration relative to the broadly available MS63 through MS65 supply chain. For the post-Sherman Act wind-down context and the broader Key Date framework, see the Morgan Dollar series history.