1903 $1, PL MS(PCGS#7285)

June 2026 Showcase Auction U.S. Coins

Auctioneer

Stack's Bowers

Lot Number

2196

Grade

MS67PL

Price

20,740

Lot Description

The commentary in Wayne Miller's <em>Morgan and Peace Dollar Textbook</em> sets the stage for this landmark offering among Prooflike 1903 silver dollars:<p><em>Because of the brilliance of the 1903-P [sic] dollar, many satin-luster gems are advertised and sold as prooflikes. Actually, the 1903-P [sic] is very scarce in fully prooflike condition. Prooflikes can be difficult to distinguish from brilliant or semi-prooflike specimens, since prooflikes usually evidence little or no contrast between field and devices.</em><p>The advent of third-party certification since Miller penned those lines means that the true prooflike examples of this issue are now readily distinguished from the semi-PLs and other pretenders. Current PCGS and NGC population data further confirms the rarity - not just scarcity, as Miller opined - of the 1903 with a prooflike finish. Even in lower numeric grades such pieces are elusive; in MS-67 PL the offered coin sits alone at the top of the <em>PCGS Population Report</em> in the PL category. (NGC reports no grading events for this issue, in this category, above MS-66 + PL.) Universally reflective in finish, as one should expect given Miller's observations, both sides of this exquisite Superb Gem are further enhanced by delicate champagne-gold iridescence and thin crescents of reddish-orange and cobalt blue here and there at the rims. Fully struck and crisp, the virtually pristine surfaces and awesome visual appeal will set this coin apart even in the most advanced collection of PL Morgan dollars.