The luster is excellent and often seen with a very thick, frosty texture. The coloration on uncleaned, original pieces ranges from rich rose-gold to orange gold to a medium greenish hue. This is an issue that can be located with very good eye appeal, although many of the coins that are well-struck and lustrous do have heavily bagmarked fields.

The 1885-S is common in all grades up to and including MS61. It is moderately scarce in MS63 and very scarce in properly graded MS64, with less than 90 known at this time. Gems are exceedingly rare with only three known in MS65.

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