1885-O Morgan Dollar

The 1885-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint in 1885 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. 9,815,000

Background
The 1885-O has a mintage of over 9 million. Only the Philadelphia Mint would mint more Morgan Dollars that year. There was little interest in Morgan Dollars in 1885 as the glut of silver coinage continued.

Collecting
The 1885-O is not well-struck when compared to the other mints of that year. Luster is strong with these coins when you select carefully.

These coins are accessible to MS-66 with higher grades commanding a rarity premium. The strike on these coins is generally sharp but weak compared with the other mints. Prooflike dies do exist but typically on one side of the coin only. Look for luster around the edge of Miss Liberty and avoid the bagmarks.

Historical Background in 1885
In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach produce the Daimler Reitwagen, regarded as the first motorcycle. The Daimler Reitwagen ("riding wagon") or Einspur ("single track") was a motor vehicle made by Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in 1885, and is widely recognized as the first motorcycle. Daimler is often called "the father of the motorcycle" for this invention. Even when the three steam powered two wheelers that preceded the Reitwagen, the Michaux-Perreaux and Roper of 1867–1869, and the 1884 Copeland, are considered motorcycles, it remains nonetheless the first gasoline internal combustion motorcycle, and the forerunner of all vehicles, land, sea and air, that use its overwhelmingly popular engine type.

On April 3, 1885, Gottlieb Daimler is granted a German patent for his single-cylinder water-cooled engine design. Gottlieb Daimler was an engineer, industrial designer and industrialist born in Schorndorf (Kingdom of Württemberg, a federal state of the German Confederation), in what is now Germany. He was a pioneer of internal-combustion engines and automobile development. He invented the high-speed petrol engine and the first four-wheel automobile.

In 1885, Good Housekeeping Magazine goes on sale for the first time in the United States. Good Housekeeping is a women's magazine owned by the Hearst Corporation, featuring articles about women's interests, product testing by The Good Housekeeping Institute, recipes, diet, health as well as literary articles. It is well known for the "Good Housekeeping Seal," popularly known as the "Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval."