The term “slider” — a coin with a bit of rub at the high points, but with luster that lets it pass as Mint State — is not just applied to About Uncirculated 58 coins, as seen with this magnificent 1901-S Barber quarter dollar graded AU-55 by Professional Coin Grading Service with a green Certified Acceptance Corp. sticker that sold for $43,200 at last year’s American Numismatic Association World’s Fair of Money auctions.

The San Francisco Mint issue is the key date in the series with a low mintage of 72,664, of which most seemed to have entered circulation, with the most-often encountered grades About Good 3 or Good 4. Choice AU survivors are especially unusual, with this one showing just a bit of wear at the high points and some friction in the fields, but unusually nice eye appeal for the grade.

As the cataloger wrote, “Brilliant apart from the lightest champagne-pink iridescence, both sides offer abundant mint luster in a flashy satin texture.”

The price was a definite improvement on the $32,520 that a less appealing PCGS AU-55 representative realized earlier that year, more closely approaching the $45,600 that a lightly toned PCGS MS-63 example sold for in January 2021.

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