The 1893-S is very similar in overall rarity to the 1892-S double eagle, but it is a little harder to locate in higher grades. In MS64 and above it remains one of the hardest San Fransisco double eagles of this decade to locate.

Expert’s Corner: 1893-S Double Eagle

This date is famous due to the rarity of the key 1893-S Morgan silver dollar. I strongly recommend it in MS64.

This is generally a well struck issue. A few show weakness on the hair strands of Liberty, but most have full or near full details at the centers. On some, the obverse border is slightly weak from 4:00 to around 7:00. The surfaces are often heavily bagmarked. This is why gems are all but unknown. The luster is excellent with thick mint frost often seen. Some semi-proof-like or fully proof-like pieces are known. These are very scarce but tend to be in the lower mint-state grades.