Description
1917-S 25C Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter PCGS MS67FH
PCGS # 5711
Grading Service PCGS
Grade MS67
Mint Location San Francisco
Year 1917
Designation FH
Strike Business
Grade Add On NONE
1917-S 25C Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter PCGS MS67FH
1917-S 25C Type 1, FH
SKU: 48037565
A superbly preserved San Francisco Type 1 Standing Liberty Quarter, this 1917-S in PCGS MS67FH ranks among the most desirable early issues of the series, combining elite technical quality with the coveted Full Head designation and exceptional visual presence.
Introduced in 1916 as part of the Renaissance-era redesign of America’s silver coinage, Hermon A. MacNeil’s Standing Liberty quarter remains one of the most admired motifs in United States numismatics. The obverse presents Liberty standing in a gateway, shield raised defensively in her right arm and olive branch extended in her left, with IN GOD WE TRUST placed across the pedestal and the date below. On this Type 1 subtype, Liberty is shown with exposed breast, a feature quickly modified in the following year. The reverse displays a boldly rendered eagle in flight, encircled by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and QUARTER DOLLAR, with no stars beneath the eagle, a defining hallmark of the short-lived Type 1 design. The San Francisco mintmark appears on the obverse near the lower left of the figure, as expected for the issue. The 1917-S Type 1 was struck at San Francisco with a mintage of 1,952,000 pieces.
The present example fully merits its lofty MS67FH certification. Liberty’s head is sharply brought up, satisfying the Full Head standard that specialists prize so highly in this challenging series. The strike is impressively crisp overall, with strong definition across the shield, drapery, and the reverse eagle’s feather detail. Surfaces are remarkably clean for the grade, and the coin retains vibrant mint frost beneath a veil of delicate champagne-gold brilliance. Subtle peripheral iridescence appears along portions of the rims, with attractive accents of amber, rose, and pale blue that enhance the originality and premium eye appeal seen in the images.
Within the Standing Liberty quarter series, the Type 1 issues of 1916-1917 occupy a special place. Their one-year-only reverse style and brief production window make them indispensable to both type collectors and advanced date-and-mint specialists. The 1917-S is particularly important, as it is recognized as the scarcest of the three 1917 Type 1 business strikes in Mint State and one of the more difficult issues to locate with a Full Head. That combination of early-series status, San Francisco origin, and high-grade conditional rarity gives the coin strong cross-collector appeal.
Demand for high-end Standing Liberty quarters has remained consistently strong, especially for premium certified coins that offer both technical superiority and aesthetic originality. While the 1916 remains the absolute key to the Type 1 design, the 1917-S is a notably better issue than its Philadelphia and Denver counterparts in upper Mint State, and Full Head examples become especially elusive at this level. The certified number 48037565 identifies this exact PCGS-graded specimen. Because no population figure or population-higher data was provided here, no specific census ranking is stated; nonetheless, the assigned MS67FH grade places the coin squarely in an elite condition tier for the issue.
An outstanding representative of a short-lived and artistically celebrated subtype, this 1917-S Standing Liberty Quarter Type 1 offers the advanced collector a compelling blend of historic importance, top-tier preservation, and undeniable visual charm.