Liberty Seated Dimes Varieties 1837-1891 - 1890 San Francisco Variety Chapter Page

1890-S

Small S

Medium S


Mintage: 1,423,076

Top 100	Var#	Obv	Rev	DR	Obverse / Reverse Quick Diagnostics	Ahwash	Greer
	101	1	A	0L	MPD 1 In Base, Med Date, Down Slope / Triple Punched Med S, [mm Lt,H]
	101a	1.2	A.2	0C	Polished Dies, Misplaced 1 In Base / Weak Medium S, [mm Lt,H]
	102	2	A.2	0R	DDO, Med Date, Down Slope, DScr in Base / Polished Die, Weak Med S
	102a	2	A.3	0R	DDO, Med Date / Cracked and Heavily Polished Die, Weak Med S
	103	2	B	0R	DDO, Medium Date, Down Slope, DScr in Base / Medium S, [mm Lt,H]	A-1	G104
	103a	2	B.2	0R	DDO, Medium Date, Downward Slope, DScr in Base / Very Weak Medium S		G104
*	104	2.2	C	0R	DDO, Med Date, Down Slope, DScr in Base / S over Low S, [mm C,H,TR4]		G105
	105	3	D.2	0L	High Date, Sharp Downward Slope / Small S, [mm Lt,H], Die Cracks	A-2
	106	4	E	0C	Medium Date, Slight Downward Slope / Medium S, [mm C,C]	A-3
	106a	4.2	E.2	0C	Medium Date, Slight Down Slope, Die Cracks / Medium S, Die Cracks
	107	5	F	0L	Medium Date, Downward Slope / S Over S (Doubled Right), [mm C,H,TR5]		G102
	108	5	G	0L	Medium Date, Downward Slope / Small S, [mm Lt,H], Mintmark Far Left
	108a	5.2	G	0L	LDS, Die Cracks Through Date / Small S, [mm Lt,H], Mintmark Far Left
*	109	6	H	0B1	Misplaced Date, Medium Level Date / Medium S, [mm C,H,TR4]		G103
	110	6	I.2	0B1	Misplaced Date, Med Level Date/ DCr Left Wreath, Med S, [mm C,H,TL2]
	111	7	J	0C	High Date, Sl. Down Slope / Possible Medium S/Small S, [mm Lt,C,TR6]
	112	7.2	K	0C	Die Gouge, High Date, Sl. Downward Slope / Medium S, [mm Lt,C,TR5]		G106
	113	8	I	0R	Medium Level Date / Medium S, [mm C,H,TL2]
	114	9	L	0L	Medium Date, Slight Downward Slope / Medium S, [mm Lt,H,TL2]
	114a	9.2	L	0L	Medium Date, DC Tops OF AMERICA / Medium S, [mm Lt,H,TL2]
	115	10	M	0R	Low Date, Slight Downward Slope / Medium S, [mm C,H,TR4]
	116	11	N	0R	Medium Date, Slight Downward Slope / Medium S, [mm Lt,H]
	117	12	H	0R	High Date, Slight Downward Slope / Medium S, [mm C,H,TR4]
	118	4.2	D	0C	Medium Date, Slight Downward Slope, DCracks / Small S, [mm Lt,H]
	119	13	M.2	-1B0	High Date, Downward Slope / Lapped Die, Medium S, [mm C,H,TR4]


Variety Vs. Denticle Ruler Cross Reference Table

Reverse Die and Mintmark Position Comparison Guide

Scarcity: A fairly available date in the lower circulated grades, but becomes very scarce in EF or better.  The Small 
S is scarce overall, being rare in EF-AU and very rare in Mint State.

Updated Greer Rarity Ratings
Small S Rarity: G-VG R4, F-VF R4+, EF-AU R5+, MS R6
Medium S Rarity: G-VG R2+, F-VF R3, EF-AU R4, MS R4+
Overall Rarity: G-VG R2, F-VF R3-, EF-AU R4-, MS R4 

                                Fortin Variety Rarity Estimates In VF - Mint State

Variety	Rarity	Suggested Premiums	Variety	Rarity	Suggested Premiums
101	R5	30-50%	109	R3	-
101a	R4	-	110	R5	30-50%
102	R5	-	111	R4	-
102a	R5+	30-50%	112	R7	700-800%
103	R3	-	113	R4	-
103a	R6	50-100%	114	R4	-
104	R4	30-50%	114a	R4	-
105	R5	50-100%	115	R3	-
106	R3	-	116	R3	-
106a	R4	-	117	R4	-
107	R4	30-50%	118	R6	100-150%
108	R5	30-50%	119	R6+	50-100%
108a	R7	70-150%

Comments: For a relatively small mintage of 1,423,076 pieces, the 1890-S date presents a host of obverse and
reverse dies and die pairings. Brian Greer and Larry Briggs attempted to study this date to determine the
number of different mintmark positions and if any of the Medium S examples were truly a Medium S over Small S.
Larry Briggs, in particular had accumulated a sizable hoard of lower grade examples. When Brian and Larry
started to compare their coins, they found a large number of different mintmark positions and die pairings.
The complete analysis of this date, beyond the major varieties, proved formidable and both Brian and Larry left
the analysis to the next Seated dime specialist interested in unraveling the mysteries of the 1890-S date.
During 1998, Larry Briggs provided me with his hoard of 1890-S dimes for comparison to my holdings. Several
new die pairing emerged from that study along with confirmation of my previous attributions. I would expect
that future discoveries of new die pairings will continue to occur.

Does the Medium S over Small S exist as presented as A-3 by Kam Ahwash? If one studies the A-3 photographs
closely in Awhash's encyclopedia, it will be noted that the macro photo of the Medium S over Small S does
not match the mintmark position of the full reverse photograph. Instead the Medium S over Small S photo
appears to be a misplaced photograph of the 1891-S Medium S over Small S variety. It is my opinion that the
Medium S over Small S as presented on page 384 of Ahwash's encyclopedia does not exist. As a result, I have
decided to not list this variety.

Value As A Date (Coin World Trends/CoinValues

Grade	1963	1973	1983	1993	2003	2012
G	1.25	3	8	11.5	20	20
F	3	6	24	26	35	30
EF	-	15	45	60	100	75
MS60	17.5	95	315	275	400	350
MS63	-	-	-	500	800	650

1890-S Date Gallery

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