By CoinWeek ….
One of the highlights of Sunday’s U.S. coin auction at GreatCollections is a near-finest 1897-O Morgan Silver Dollar from the Illinois Set Collection. Certified MS66+ and given a green CAC sticker, PCGS reports only two grading events at 66+, with a mere two finer at 67.
Morgan Dollars struck at the New Orleans Mint are famous among collectors for their weak strike and lack of luster, which makes Mint State examples highly coveted. As for the 1897-O itself, few Gem Mint State examples survive today as United States Mint bags of the coin were few and far between in bank and Treasury Department vaults.
Adding to the pressure that collectors of high-end Morgan Silver Dollars might feel is that only one or two 1897-Os hit the market in a given year, so this represents quite the opportunity. The coin offered by GreatCollections on Sunday, January 19, was last sold at Sotheby’s in 2018 as part of the Illinois Collection of Morgan Dollars, where it realized $262,500. It was also previously owned at different times in the 20th century by Wayne Miller, Ralph Stone, and Hoagy Carmichael(!).
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To search through GreatCollection’s archive of over 600,000 certified coins and notes the company has sold, please visit the GreatCollections Auction Archives.
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