1888-S LIBERTY SEATED 25C, MOTTO MS67

GEM. WELL STRUCK LUSTROUS SURFACES. SOLE HIGHEST GRADED. CAC. The 1888-S is alone among Seated Quarter deliveries produced from 1879 through 1890. It is the only mintmarked issue of this era, and it is also the only one whose original mintage surpassed the 1 million-coin mark. We believe that a sudden need for Quarters in circulation on the West Coast at one or more times during the year explains the existence of the 1888-S. The East Coast, on the other hand, was still getting by with repatriated examples of earlier-dated issues that had left the country during the Civil War. While the Philadelphia Mint did strike limited numbers of business strike Seated Quarters in 1888, the facility concentrated almost exclusively on the Morgan Dollar. That delivery of the 1888-S Quarter interfered with Silver Dollar production in California seems assured when one remembers that an original mintage of 657,000 pieces for the '88-S Morgan represents a significant reduction from the total of 1.7 million coins achieved for the '87-S. As already mentioned, the 1888-S was desperately needed in commercial channels at the time of production. And circulate this issue did. Today, the '88-S is one of the most plentiful Seated Quarters in worn condition. Mint State examples are scarce in an absolute sense, yet still relatively obtainable in grades up to and including MS-64. As a Gem, the 1888-S is rare, and the issue is extremely so in Superb Gem grades.