1880-S Morgan Dollar

The 1880-S Morgan Dollar was struck at the San Francisco 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. 8,900,000

Background
The San Francisco Mint churned out 8,900,000 Morgan Dollars in 1880 --the second highest mintage for that year (after the 1880 Morgan Dollar, which had over 12 million coins minted). By 1880, the Morgan-designed dollar had become a staple in the everyday commerce of the American West.

Collecting
The 1880-S Morgan is popular among collectors for it's beautiful strike and plentiful numbers. At circulation strike of almost 9 million, the is reasonable to MS-66 and only get's pricey at the MS-67 grade.

Examples of this coin are usually well-struck with even luster. Weak strikes should be avoided while looking for detail in the hair of Miss Liberty and eagle's feathers.

Prooflike coins are readily available in this dat and are sought-after by collectors. Some examples of the prooflike exist with the prooflike appearance on one side of the coin only.

Historical Background in 1880
In 1880, Cologne Cathedral is completed, after construction began in 1248, 632 years earlier. Cologne Cathedral is a Roman Catholic church in Cologne, Germany. It is the seat of the Archbishop of Cologne and the administration of the Archdiocese of Cologne. It is a renowned monument of German Catholicism and Gothic architecture and is a World Heritage Site. It is Germany's most visited landmark, attracting an average of 20,000 people a day.

On February 2nd, 1880, the first electric streetlight is installed in Wabash, Indiana. A street light, lamppost, street lamp, light standard, or lamp standard is a raised source of light on the edge of a road or walkway, which is turned on or lit at a certain time every night. Modern lamps may also have light-sensitive photocells to turn them on at dusk, off at dawn, or activate automatically in dark weather. In older lighting this function would have been performed with the aid of a solar dial. It is not uncommon for street lights to be on posts which have wires strung between them, such as on telephone poles or utility poles.

On May 13, 1880, in Menlo Park, New Jersey, Thomas Edison performs the first test of his electric railway. A railway electrification system supplies electrical energy to railway locomotives and multiple units as well as trams so that they can operate without having an on-board prime mover. There are several different electrification systems in use throughout the world. Railway electrification has many advantages but requires significant capital expenditure for installation.