Formerly of the legendary Golden Gate Collection, the bids have already advanced from the $80,000 we reported before to $130,000. But it's not the only, or even the highest currently priced, highlight in the sale.
That honour belongs to an 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar, graded MS67 (mint state 67) by the NGC. It is the finest NGC-Certified specimen and hails from the legendary Norweb and Jack Lee Collections.
Heritage have previously commented on the conditions that led to the rarity of this particular issue:
"The year 1893 brought several events that ultimately influenced this and related issues. The silver purchase clause of the Act of July 14, 1890, was repealed on November 1, 1893, resulting in a drastically reduced need for silver to be converted into coinage.
 1893 Morgan silver dollar from the Norweb and Jack Lee collections |
"For the next few years, mintages of silver dollars were substantially smaller than in previous years."
Just 100,000 were made at the San Francisco mint, with other mints also producing low numbers.
It isn't known for certain what happened to most of the production run, but most probably met the same fate as many other silver dollars from this era: They were melted under the terms of the 1918 Pittman Act.
It was previously sold as part of the Norweb Collection, Part III (Bowers and Merena, 11/1988), where it brought $357,500, a record for any Morgan dollar at that time.
Heritage's Chicago sale concludes with a live floor session on August 12. The 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar currently bears a bid of $160,000.
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