1881 Morgan Dollar

The 1881 Morgan Dollar was struck at the Philadelphia Mint in 1881 and is part of the Morgan Dollar series.

Specifications

 * Designer: George T. Morgan
 * Obverse Design: Lady Liberty
 * Reverse Design: Eagle holding arrows and olive branch
 * Edge: Reeded
 * Weight: 26.73 grams
 * Diameter: 38.1 millimeters
 * Composition: Silver (90%), Copper (10%)
 * Mintage: Circulation Strikes: est. 9,163,000
 * Proof Mintage: est. 984

Background
Morgan dollars in the 1880s continued to be coined in the millions. A glut of coins were piling up at the Mint and bank vaults. The morgan dollar of 1881 is no exception with a relatively high mintage of 9,163,000.

These coins were so common in the 1950s they were actually a nuisance to collectors. Additional Morgan Dollars were released in the mid-50's making this coin, at the time, not a collectible.

Collecting
The 1881 Morgan Dollar is a well-struck coin with good surface detail. This is the case on the obverse and the reverse with most coins of the year. Below average pieces are seen on occasion in the marketplace and should be avoided.

Prooflike coins for the 1881 do exist but they're hard to find. Well worth the search for they're highly sought-after by collectors.

Historical Background in 1881
On January 25, 1881, Thomas Edison and Alexander Graham Bell form the Oriental Telephone Company. The Oriental Telephone Company was licensed to sell telephones in Greece, Turkey, South Africa, India, Japan, China, and other Asian countries.

On February 5, 1881, Phoenix, Arizona is incorporated. Phoenix is the capital, and largest city, of the U.S. state of Arizona, as well as the sixth most populous city in the United States. Phoenix is home to 1,445,632 people according to the official 2010 U.S. Census Bureau data. It is the anchor of the Phoenix metropolitan area (also known as the Valley of the Sun), and is the 14th largest metro area by population in the United States with about 4.2 million people in 2010. In addition, Phoenix is the county seat of Maricopa County, and is one of the largest cities in the United States by land area. Phoenix is the largest capital city in the United States and the only state capital with over 1,000,000 people.

February 13, 1881, the first issue of the feminist newspaper La Citoyenne is published by Hubertine Auclert. La Citoyenne was first published on February 13, 1881, and appeared bi-monthly. The newspaper was a forceful and unrelenting advocate for women's enfranchisement, demanding changes to the Napoleonic Code that relegated women to a vastly inferior status. The newspaper demanded that women be given the right to run for public office, claiming that the unfair laws would never have been passed had the views of female legislators been heard. Notable feminists such as Marie Bashkirtseff wrote articles for the paper.