Last year of the design struck, with a total Mintage of less than 300,000, yet that is deceptive when actual appearances of the date are considered. Many coins of this date were melted by the Mint after July 1873, following passage of the “Crime of 1873”, an act changing the weight standard of U. S. Silver, and abolishing several denominations including the Standard Silver Dollar. This was also the act that created the ill fated Trade Dollar. As Standard Dollars were no longer needed, the Treasury stopped paying them out, with the result that all left in the vaults went to the scrap yard. PCGS CoinFacts suggests less than 1000 coins in all grades survive, a guess at best, however I know how often I see them, which is not often (the 1873 Trade Dollar is similarly scarce, however for a different reason - almost all of those went to Asia). This is a sharp AU example, with overall detail closely matching certified AU-55 to 58 specimens, likely one that somehow slipped through and survived mixed in with other dates of Dollars in the Treasury hoard, only to be released in the late 1950’s/early 1960’s. It was cleaned at some point in the past, so is a bit bright, however is not unattractive, with some rim toning developing. It should continue to tone down further over time. While this coin series is almost the definition of a “slow seller”, being the province of true and dedicated specialists, it is one of my favorites so I could not pass up the coin knowing its scarcity. Discounted appropriately for the old cleaning, a coin that normally might be in the $1000 range or more (certainly more if it was certified).