The King of Morgan Dollars Comes to GreatCollections

GreatCollections is honored to offer the finest 1893-S Morgan Silver Dollar to reach the U.S. market in years — a Gem example graded PCGS MS-65 and approved by CAC, pedigreed to the legendary Clapp and Eliasberg collections and widely considered the second finest known of the key date. Known to collectors as the “King of the Morgan Dollars,” this 1893-S crosses the block unreserved, with bidding ending Sunday, August 9, 2026.

The coin returns to the market after residing overseas for the past decade as the centerpiece of one of the finest Morgan dollar collections ever formed. Among survivors of the date, it stands behind only the Vermeule specimen — the coin GreatCollections sold in August 2021 for $2,086,875, the first Morgan dollar ever to surpass two million dollars and still the auction record for the series.

The King of the Series

The 1893-S has stood at the summit of the Morgan dollar series for more than a century. The San Francisco Mint struck just 100,000 pieces for circulation in 1893 — the lowest business-strike mintage of the entire 1878–1921 series, and a small fraction of the millions produced in a typical Morgan year. For perspective, the next-lowest business strikes — the 1894 Philadelphia at 110,000 and the 1893 New Orleans at 300,000 — were themselves considered scarce, while most other dates in the series ran into the millions or tens of millions.

Mintage, however, understates the rarity. The 1893-S was released into the teeth of the Panic of 1893, and nearly the entire issue went straight into commerce, circulating hard across a rapidly developing West. Many of the survivors were later melted under the Pittman Act of 1918. Various industry experts have estimated 6,000 to 12,000 survived — but the figure that matters to condition-conscious collectors is far smaller.

Fewer than 125 examples are believed to exist in any Mint State grade, and in true Gem preservation the population narrows to a mere handful. While grading-service tallies record roughly 18 coins in MS-65 or finer, specialists have long held that the number of distinct, genuine Gems is closer to six to eight coins. In Mint State, the 1893-S is, quite simply, the rarest Morgan dollar of them all.

That distinction sets it apart even from the series' other giants. Where the great Carson City issues survive in quantity in circulated grades, and where condition rarities such as the 1889-CC turn chiefly on Gem preservation, the 1893-S is scarce in every grade, from Good to Gem — with no significant hoard ever having come to light. It is a coin collectors chase in any condition, and one that, in this quality, appears perhaps once in a generation.

A Pedigree Unbroken Since the San Francisco Mint

What elevates this particular coin beyond even its grade is a provenance that has never been broken since the day it left the Mint. The chain begins with Philadelphia dealer J. Colvin Randall, who acquired it in 1893 as part of a group of branch-mint Morgans obtained from the Assay Commission. It passed to J.M. Clapp in 1894 and remained with the Clapp family until the entire Clapp cabinet was purchased by Louis E. Eliasberg, Sr. in 1942 — the collector who would go on to form the only complete collection of United States coins ever assembled.

Sold in the 1997 Eliasberg sale to the Stellar Collection, the coin later joined the Sunnywood Collection in 2008 and the Simpson holdings, before its last public auction appearance in 2014 when it realized $646,250.  It is the example plated in 100 Greatest U.S. Coins by Jeff Garrett.

Among knowledgeable Morgan specialists, the Clapp–Eliasberg 1893-S is widely regarded as the second finest known, trailing only the Vermeule PCGS MS-67 CAC that GreatCollections sold in 2021 for $2,086,875. Its combination of Gem grade, CAC approval, original color, and unbroken pedigree back to the San Francisco Mint places it in rarefied company — the kind of fresh, high-quality material that defines today's competition for the very best Morgan dollars.

“In more than a decade of handling great Morgan dollars, this is one of the coins I have most wanted to bring to market. The 1893-S is the King of the series, and an original Gem carrying a Clapp and Eliasberg pedigree — CAC-approved and considered the second finest known — is about as good as this series gets. A special thank you for entrusting it with our firm,” said Ian Russell, president of GreatCollections.

Looking to Bid, Buy, or Sell?

The Clapp–Eliasberg 1893-S is being offered unreserved, with bidding ending Sunday, August 9, 2026. View the lot and place your bid at GreatCollections. If you are building a set of key-date Morgan dollars, send us your wantlist and we will notify you when matching coins appear. We are also actively seeking consignments of important U.S. coins for upcoming auctions — to consign, visit greatcollections.com/sell or call 800-442-6467.