1887-S

Among the curiosities of the Liberty Double Eagle calendar, 1887 stands apart for an unusual reason. Philadelphia struck no business coinage that year, releasing only 121 proofs delivered in quarterly batches of 26, 28, 10, and 57 pieces, while Carson City remained shuttered. That left San Francisco as the sole producer of circulating twenties, and the resulting issue carries the entire year's commercial output on its shoulders. With its modest run of 283,000 coins, the date sits well below the surrounding production peaks at the same mint, where the 1885-S reached 683,500 and the 1888-S climbed to 859,600 the following year.

Strike quality on this Type 3 issue tends to be solid by San Francisco standards, with crisp star centers, well-defined hair detail above Liberty's ear, and reverse devices showing the bold relief typical of the late 1880s working dies. Surface preservation is the bigger story. Most surviving examples grade in circulated tiers from VF through AU, reflecting the heavy commercial duty these coins performed before the bullion-export cycles of the 1890s pulled vast numbers overseas. Choice Mint State pieces become genuinely scarce, and Gem-quality survivors are rare enough that PCGS CoinFacts ranks the date as comparable in overall difficulty to the 1881-S.

The Saddle Ridge Hoard, unearthed in northern California in 2013, contained eleven 1887-S double eagles, of which three graded Mint State and one was deemed ungradeable due to cleaning. That find provided a small but meaningful injection of high-grade material into a population that had been relatively static for decades, and Doug Winter publicly noted the hoard's potential to soften values for slightly better-date San Francisco issues like this one. Collectors pursuing the date today balance its one-of-a-kind 1887 status against pricing dynamics still settling out from that recovery. For deeper context, see the Liberty Head Double Eagle series history.