The Morgan Dollar. Truly one of the prettiest coins to be collected. Minted from 1878 to 1921, this dollar, amazingly, was largely ignored upon it’s entry into circulation. In 1873, the current dollar of the time, The Liberty Seated Dollar, was legislated out of existence. The Morgan Dollar came to be due to the largest silver strike ever (at the time) in Nevada. There had to be a market for this silver, of course, or the mine would go bankrupt. With the disappearance of the silver dollar five years earlier, where would the silver be sold and used? Lobbyists were successful in getting the Bland-Allsion Act passed in 1878 which required the U.S. Government to purchase between $2 and $4 million dollars worth of silver a month in order to mint silver dollars. That’s how the Morgan Dollar was born.
The Morgan Dollar was designed by 31-year-old George T. Morgan who won a contest, rigged in his favor. Mint Director, Henry P. Linderman had become dissatisfied with the designs of the Barbers, William and his son Charles of the Barber quarter, half dollar, dime fame.
The Morgan Dollar’s first strike was on March 11, 1878. They were minted in Philadelphia, Carson City, New Orleans, Denver and San Francisco. The Carson City branch was closed in 1893 and Morgan Dollars with the mint mark of CC are very rare, indeed.
The front (obverse) shows a left-facing Miss Liberty while the back (reverse) shows an eagle which was thought to look scrawny and was referred to as the buzzard dollar.
Mintmarks are found on the reverse, under the wreath and the initials of George T. Morgan, which is just M, can be found on both sides of the coin. A first for the initials of a coin designer.
Soon after production, it was advised that the eagle’s tail feathers on the reverse should have 7 feathers instead of the 8 that were depicted. The change of the design was ordered. Therefore, some of the 1878 Morgan Dollars show 7 tail feathers, some of them 8 tail feathers and some of them 15 tail feathers (commonly referred to as 7/8 TF to collectors). The 7 over 8 is the scarcest of the three designs but all three designs are still available for collecting.
Minting stopped in 1904 but made one final appearance in 1921. Approximately 657 million Morgan’s were minted in 96 different date and mint combinations. Unfortunately, hundreds of millions were destroyed in the Pittman Act and Silver Act of 1942 and because production on the Morgan stopped in 1904 with one last year of minting in 1921, sometimes finding good specimens in all of the 96 variations can be difficult and/or very expensive. However, it isn’t something that should discourage a potential collector to this coin.
As silver prices started to rise in the 1960s, the collecting of Morgan Dollars started to become popular. With the addition of the discovery of LaVere Redfield’s 411,000 Morgan Dollar and Peace Dollar hoard after his death in 1974, the idea of collecting these coins took off. What Mr. Redfield did was collect these silver dollars due to his mistrust of the Government and the fact that he could buy over ¾ of an ounce of pure silver for a dollar of paper money. These were sold at the auction of his estate. It is said that anybody who owns a Morgan Dollar may very well have one that he had stashed. Amazing when looking at a collection thinking that could be true.
Key dates in the collection are 1895, 1893-S, 1895-O, 1892-S, 1889-CC, 1884-S and 1879-CC and will cost a lot of money in a high grade condition from a professional grading service. Points to check for wear on a Morgan Dollar for collection purposes are the hair above Liberty’s eye and ear, the high upper fold of her cap and the crest of the eagle’s breast. Well demarcated lines are desirable and will be easy to detect due to the large size of the coin.
Today, the Morgan Dollar which was met with indifference during its lifetime, now holds a prosperous place in the hearts of collectors. It definately holds a place in my heart. Despite the melting of so many of these dollars, they are readily available, reasonably priced and just beautiful to look at.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Diameter: 38.1 millimeters Weight: 26.73 grams Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper Edge: Reeded Net Weight: .77344 ounce pure silver.
