1875-S

San Francisco struck 680,000 quarters in 1875, a moderate delivery that sat between the very small Carson City output of 140,000 and the four-million-piece Philadelphia run for the year. The issue is the first S-mint quarter under the post-Arrows standard: the Coinage Act of February 12, 1873 had raised the weight to 6.25 grams and added the brief Arrows subtype in 1873-1874, and 1875 returned the design to clean With Motto form across all three mints. The S mintmark sits below the eagle on the reverse, the motto "IN GOD WE TRUST" reads on the banner above the eagle, and the planchet is 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper at 24.3 millimeters.

What collectors examine on the issue starts with strike. San Francisco quarters of the period regularly show softness on the central shield and on the eagle's right leg, and a well-struck 1875-S with crisp shield horizontals and full leg feathers is meaningfully scarcer than the raw mintage suggests. The S mintmark itself should read cleanly without evidence of recutting or addition; the small punches used in this era can vary in placement from die to die, but a sharply cut S on an original surface is the baseline. Authentication concerns are modest for the issue, since 680,000 is not a small enough mintage to make the date a primary target for alteration work, but altered-mintmark fakes do appear and a genuine planchet's weight falls within tolerance of 6.25 grams. The drapery at Liberty's elbow should be sharply defined on a problem-free piece.

Population data from PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC, the Numismatic Guaranty Company, shows the issue is reasonably available in Fine through Extremely Fine and scarce in About Uncirculated. Mint State coins are condition rare, with MS63 and above commanding firm premiums because surface preservation on a San Francisco silver piece from the mid-1870s is uncommon. For a date-and-mintmark set builder, the 1875-S is an accessible target in circulated grades and a deliberate upgrade project in higher grades. Original gray patina trades best; over-dipped white coins lose the surface texture that makes the design read sharp. For the broader story of Gobrecht's design and the series' late-1870s production, see the Seated Liberty Quarter series history.