The is a
Silver United States Dollar Coin . The dollars were
Mint ed from 1878 to 1904 and again for one more year in 1921. The Morgan Dollar is named after its designer,
George T. Morgan , who designed the
Obverse and
Reverse of the coin. Morgan's
Monogram appears near
Lady Liberty 's neck on the obverse. The dollar was authorized by the
Bland-Allison Act of 1878. It has a fineness of .900, giving a total silver content of 0.77344
Troy Ounce s (24.057
Gram s) per coin.
The
Comstock Lode , the greatest silver strike in history, occurred in Nevada in the late 1850s. The strike put downward pressure on silver prices worldwide. The greatest silver strike in history was followed by the greatest coinage boondoggle in history. In 1878, to protect the interest of the western states, Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act which forced the mintage of millions of silver dollars and their purchase by the treasury department. The mintage was far more than was needed in circulation. These excess silver dollars quickly began piling up. Some original mint bags of Morgan dollars remained in treasury vaults until the 1960's. This strange past has lead to one of the greatest collectible series in American coins providing collectors with many dates and mint marks readily obtainable in mint state condition along with challenging rarities.
When the dollar was minted in 1878, it was the first dollar issued for American commercial use since the last
Seated Liberty Dollar of 1873. The
Trade Dollar was minted during this time period but was for trade in
The Orient . The dollar was continuously minted until 1904 when the supply of dollars in circulation was high and there was an absence of silver
Bullion . Then in 1918, the
Pittman Act called for over 270 million coins to be destroyed for silver content. In 1921, the coinage of the Morgan Dollar resumed for that year and was replaced by the
Peace Dollar commemorative that would become standard issue. Since 1921, many Morgan Dollars have been melted, mostly when silver prices escalate and they yield silver bullion.
Caches of Morgan Dollars produced at the
Carson City Mint were discovered and were sold to coin collectors by the federal government in the late
1960 s. These dollars were uncirculated and are called GSAs (named after the
General Services Administration ) and come in holds that mimic the holds used for proof silver
Eisenhower Dollar s.
Mintmarks appear underneath the tail feathers of the bald eagle on the reverse between the letters D and O in Dollar. Mintmarks include:
Of all of these mints, the dollars from Carson City hold more value because of their usually low mintages, as well as a
Western connection. All proofs for the Morgan series were minted at Philadelphia but proof 1921-S coins are known to exist.
DMPL coins are regular Morgan Dollars that were struck for circulation but have unusually frosted legends and devices and very reflective, mirror-like, fields. There are coins that are heavy DMPL, meaning that they are very frosted/mirrored, and coins that are light DMPL, meaning they are not completely frosted/mirrored. These coins occur most frequently during the pre-1883 run of San Francisco dollars. Even with these examples, these coins are worth much more than a regular coin by the same grade.
The Morgan Dollar is known for many different varieties, called VAMs. Below are the most common ones:
- 1878-P: 8 Tail Feathers
- 1879-CC: Clear CC
- 1882-O over S
- 1887-O: 7 over 6
- 1888-O: Doubled Obverse ("Hot Lips")
- 1900-O over CC
- 1901-P: Doubled Reverse
As with any coin series, when it comes to Morgans, original mintage does not always determine value. Some coins with a higher mintage have more value due to less coins having survived to the present day. Below is a list of rarities:
- Any Carson City Coin
- 1883-S: Uncirculated Grades are Scarce
- 1884-S: Uncirculated Grades are Scarce
- 1892-S: Uncirculated Grades are Scarce
- 1893-S
- 1895-P
- 1885-O
- 1885-S
- 1896-S
- 1899-P
- 1901-P: Uncirculated Grades are Scarce
- 1903-P
- 1903-O
- 1903-S
- 1904-S
These three dates/mints are the most difficult to find and the most valuable of the entire Morgan series. This is mainly due to their low mintage figures.
- 1889-CC: 350,000
- 1893-S: 100,000
- 1895 Proof: 12,880
Of these, the 1895 Proof is one of the most valuable with a PF-60 coin worth $36,000 according to the 2006
Red Book . If they are only proofs, there are only 880 1895 Proof coins that have survived. This rarity has caused attempts to forge a 1895-P by removing a mintmark from an also rare 1895-O or 1895-S.
- Yeoman, R.S. ''A Guide Book of United States Coins'' Atlanta: Whitman Publishing, 2004
- Edler, Joel and Harper, Dave ''U.S. Coin Digest'' Iola: Krause Publications, 2004
