1880-O Morgan Dollar

The 1880-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint in 1880 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. 5,305,000

Background
Unlike the 1880-CC Morgan Dollar, all the 1880-O dollars are from the reverse of 1879. And with a mintage of over 5 million, the 1880-O is far more accessible than it's Carson City Mint counterpart. These coins did circulate, especially in the Southern and Western United States so separate coins for wear.

Some numbers of coins were taken from circulation and stored at the New Orleans Mint for some time.

Collecting
The 1880-O is accessible to MS-63 with MS-64 through MS-66 at a premium. Striking varies wildly so take care with selection. Most of these coins are above average with areas of the coin to check are the hair of Miss Liberty and feathers on the eagle's breast.

Some of these coins have a prooflike finish; such coins are usually quite attractive. Those with DMPL surfaces are hard to find.

Historical Background in 1880
On November 2, 1880, James Garfield defeats Winfield S. Hancock in the U.S. presidential election. The United States presidential election of 1880 was largely seen as a referendum on the end of Reconstruction in Southern states carried out by the Republicans. There were no pressing issues of the day save tariffs, with the Republicans supporting higher tariffs and the Democrats supporting lower ones.

On November 4, 1880, the first cash register is patented by James and John Ritty of Dayton, Ohio. A cash register (US English) or till (British English) is a mechanical or electronic device for calculating and recording sales transactions, and an attached cash drawer for storing cash. The cash register also usually prints a receipt for the customer.

On November 4, 1880, the journal Science is founded by Thomas Edison. Science is the academic journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and is one of the world's top scientific journals. The peer-reviewed journal is circulated weekly and has a print subscriber base of around 130,000. Because institutional subscriptions and online access serve a larger audience, its estimated readership is one million people.