1872-S

San Francisco's 780,000-coin emission for 1872 sits in the same workhorse band as the 928,000-piece 1871-S that preceded it and the 1,040,600-piece 1873-S that followed, reflecting the routine year-to-year fluctuation of West Coast bullion production rather than any deliberate contraction. As a Type 2 Coronet (With Motto, "TWENTY D." reverse), this date carries the same heavy-relief design that frustrated SF die shops throughout the era, and the working dies prepared for CK-6506 typically deposit decent luster and reasonably full hair detail while leaving the stars and the upper shield arrows softer than a Philadelphia counterpart of the same year.

The mintage rarely translates into Mint State availability. PCGS notes that examples are obtainable in VF and EF, become very scarce in AU, and turn outright rare above MS60, with most certified Uncirculated coins clustering at MS60 to MS61 and MS62 already conditionally elusive. Heritage Auctions, in its January 4, 2007 sale (Lot 3192), offered an 1872-S graded MS62 by PCGS that was at the time one of only three MS62 examples certified by the service with none finer, the same coin tracing back through the Harry W. Bass Jr. Collection sale conducted by Bowers and Merena in May 2000 and earlier through a Parke-Bernet appearance in May 1968.

The PCGS census has since produced a single MS63 (Heritage Lot 3265, sale 1218), which remains the finest the service has graded; NGC reports one MS63 alongside a numerically finer MS64. Counterfeit and added-mintmark concerns are modest for this date because circulated demand is met by genuine survivors, but added-S forgeries onto Philadelphia 1872 hosts do surface and warrant mintmark style verification. The 2013 Saddle Ridge Hoard skewed heavily toward mid-1870s through 1880s San Francisco issues and did not measurably reset the 1872-S population. For broader context on the type, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.