1879-O Morgan Dollar

The 1879-O Morgan Dollar was struck at the New Orleans Mint in 1879 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. 2,887,000

Background
The New Orleans Mint resumed operation after having been inoperative since the early days of the Civil War. Silver coinage, especially silver dollars, were being produced in heavy numbers from all four mints ---the Philadelphia Mint, Carson City Mint, New Orleans Mint, and San Francisco Mint, outnumbering all silver coinage of the time.

Hard to believe it today but there was actually a GLUT of silver coins in circulation in 1879! Collecting Morgan Dollars was not on the mind of the public.

Collecting
This first-year issue of the Morgan Dollar from the New Orleans Mint is a favorite among collectors although it is available in sufficient numbers. Pieces are readily available in numbers up to MS64 while MS65s are rare.

Striking among the mint state coins ranges from sharp to below average. Weakness can be detected in the hair strands of Miss Liberty and breast feathers of the eagle. Watching for these details can help collectors avoid a lower mint grade.

Some pieces appear as prooflike, though scarce, and fewer still appear as DMPL.

Historical Background in 1879
On March 3, 1879, the United States Geological Survey is created. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and the natural hazards that threaten it. The organization has four major science disciplines, concerning biology, geography, geology, and hydrology. The USGS is a fact-finding research organization with no regulatory responsibility.

On March 28, British forces suffer a defeat at the Battle of Hlobane in the Anglo-Zulu War. The Battle of Hlobane was a battle of the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 that took place at Hlobane, near the current town of Vryheid in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

On May 14, 1879, the first group of 463 Indian indentured labourers arrive in Fiji aboard the Leonidas. The Leonidas (Named after king Leonidas I of Sparta) was a labour transport ship (schooner) that played an important role in the history of Fiji. She had been earlier used to carry indentured labourers to the West Indies, having transported 580 Indian indentured labourers to St Lucia in 1878. Captained by McLachlan, the ship departed from Calcutta, India on 3 March 1879 and arrived at Levuka, Fiji, on 14 May that year. The indentured labourers who disembarked were the first of over 61,000 to arrive from the Indian Sub-continent over the following 37 years, forming the nucleus of the Fiji Indian community that now numbers close to forty percent of Fiji's population.

Die Varieties
VAM-4 and VAM-28 (Van Allen and Mallis varieties) are considered to be in the Top 100. These varieties stem from a triple-punched mintmark:

{|
 * valign="top"|
 * VAM-1 Closed 9
 * VAM-2 Open 9
 * VAM-3 Large O
 * VAM-3A Doubled 9, Large O, Clashed Obverse n & st
 * VAM-4 O/O Horizontal, Doubled 9 and Left Reverse
 * VAM-5 Doubled 9
 * VAM-6 O Tilted Right
 * VAM-7 O Tilted Left
 * VAM-8 Open 9, Large O
 * VAM-8A Die Chips in 8
 * VAM-9 Doubled 9, Large O
 * VAM-10 Doubled 8-9
 * VAM-11 Doubled 8-9
 * VAM-12 Doubled 187, Large O
 * VAM-13 Doubled Date
 * VAM-14 Doubled 879, Large O
 * VAM-15 Doubled Date, Large O
 * VAM-15A Doubled Date, Large O, Clashed Obverse n, st
 * VAM-16 Doubled 9, Low O Set Right
 * VAM-17 Doubled 87
 * VAM-18 Doubled 8-9, Low O
 * VAM-19 Doubled 87
 * VAM-20 Doubled 87
 * VAM-21 Doubled 187
 * VAM-22 Doubled 8-9
 * VAM-23 Tripled 8, Doubled 9
 * VAM-23A Tripled 8, Doubled 9, Pitted Reverse
 * VAM-24 Doubled Date, Low O
 * VAM-25 Doubled Date, Large O
 * VAM-26 Doubled 9, Die Chips in Date
 * VAM-27 Doubled 18
 * valign="top"|
 * VAM-27A Doubled 18, Clashed Obverse n
 * VAM-28 O/O Horizontal, Doubled 87
 * VAM-29 Doubled Stars, Motto and 187
 * VAM-30 Quadrupled Stars, Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-31 Doubled Left Stars & 9, Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-32 Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-33 Doubled Phrygian Cap, Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-34 Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-35 Doubled Rt. Stars & 8, Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-36 Doubled 9 Lower Left, Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-37 Doubled 8-9, O Tilted Left
 * VAM-38 Doubled 8-9, O/O Left Inside
 * VAM-39 Doubled 1-7, Doubled Left Reverse
 * VAM-39A Doubled 1-7, Doubled Left Reverse, Clashed Obv n & st
 * VAM-40 Doubled 87, Doubled Lower Reverse
 * VAM-41 Doubled 87 and Lower Reverse
 * VAM-41A Doubled 87 and Lower Reverse,Rusted Die Obverse
 * VAM-42 Doubled 8-9 & Lower Reverse
 * VAM-42A Doubled 8-9 & Lower Reverse, Clashed n & st
 * VAM-43 Doubled Date & Lower Reverse
 * VAM-44 Doubled 9 & Phrygian Cap
 * VAM-44A Doubled 9 & Phrygian Cap, Clashed Obverse n & st
 * VAM-45 Doubled Chin & Lip & Lower Reverse
 * VAM-46 Doubled Date & Lower Reverse
 * VAM-47 Doubled 9, Phrygian Cap Top, Quadrupled Stars

Double Struck Double Struck
Double Struck Double Struck
 * }

Reference

 * Vamworld