Although there is some weakness in the chest feathers of the eagle, the hair over Liberty’s ear is well-defined, and so this must be considered one of the more robustly struck examples known. The lustre has the unusual ‘glossy’ appearance that is not uncommon for the date, and the fields have ample metal flow which accentuate the coin’s brilliance. There are some scattered scuffs on Liberty’s cheek, and a field mark above the eagle’s beak.

The 1901 dollar is considered one the key dates of the Morgan dollar series, and in mint state is one of the more elusive. In October 1992, a year or two before this coin was graded, PCGS had certified twelve as MS 63, and only six higher, the finest MS 65. The low quality of production of silver dollars from this point until 1904 has, in part, been blamed on the Philadelphia Mint’s conversion from wood burning to gas fired annealing furnaces (Highfill, 2017, p. 1349).

Certificate number: 9906013 (Generation 3.1 holder). PCGS has graded examples of this date some six thousand times, and one hundred and twenty-nine were found to be of this grade, with forty-five finer (MS 66 the single finest). (02-18)