Morgan Dollar

The Morgan Dollar was struck from 1878 to 1921– or a more accurate picture would be, struck from 1878 to 1904, then resurrected for one more comeback in 1921 before passing into history.

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%)
 * Dates:1878 - 1921

Introduction
Planes were realized in 1903, with the Wright brothers, and provided the first transatlantic flight by 1919. Trains saw a worldwide boom by 1880, after the United States completed the first transcontinental railroad in 1869. Automobiles grew in development when Karl Benz patented his first engine design, in 1879, and exploded when Henry Ford completed his assembly line in 1914.

The Morgan Dollar series, The U.S. silver dollar from 1878 to 1921, spans what was, arguably, the peak years of the Industrial Revolution. This alone makes this heavy, beautiful, solid silver coin a first-class collectable.

Background
Is there any collector of U.S. coins that DOESN’T want at least one Morgan dollar in their collection? Even if your specialty is Indian cents or Buffalo nickels, chances are you still made a place in your collection for a Morgan silver dollar. Let’s face it, the Morgan dollar is the very symbol of U.S. coin collecting. It is THE “Cover Girl” of books and magazines about United States coins.

The Morgan dollar is a big silver coin– in fact, the BIGGEST U.S. coin (along with other types of U.S. silver dollars of course) you’re likely to own. The Morgan dollar has an absolutely beautiful classic design (some consider it to be one of the top two or three most beautiful of all U.S. coins). And, the Morgan dollar circulated, for the most part, during the 1800's. In fact, you could say the Morgan dollar is a coin of the “Old West,” as they were around during the tumultuous years of 1878 to 1890 when such outlaws as Butch Cassidy, Black Bart, and Billy the Kid were running amok; there were silver strikes out in the Sierra Nevada, and horrific battles between the U.S. Calvary and the Indians out West.

There’s another reason why Morgan dollars are so popular with collectors, beside the fact that these are big, beautiful silver coins with a lot of history behind them. They are readily available at ridiculously low prices. Still! Get this: you can purchase an 1880 Morgan dollar in Fine condition for around $15-$18! But it gets better. Surely a mint state 1880 Morgan silver dollar – a huge silver coin with 126 years of history behind it– will cost a few hundred dollars! Wrong. An uncirculated 1880 Morgan dollar, as of this writing, retails only $35! Granted, that’s for a BASIC mint-state coin (as opposed to nearly perfect and without flaws) but an uncirculated 1880 silver dollar nonetheless!

In other words, you get a lot of coin for your money. In fact, virtually all the dates in the Morgan dollar series can be purchased for roughly those amounts– only the dates of 1893 and 1895 would be exceptions. The caveat here would be, almost all dates are easily affordable, but not all date and mint combinations are easily affordable. For example, an 1889 Morgan dollar struck at the Philadelphia Mint should only set you back $20 in Very Fine condition. An 1889 Morgan dollar struck at the Carson City Mint, on the other hand, will set you back $2,000 in the same condition!

As I’ve said before, Morgan dollars are readily available on the coin market. Look through any coin magazine and you’ll see ad after ad where MANY Morgan dollars are up for sale. The truth is, millions upon millions of Morgan silver dollars were struck. And even though millions have been melted over the years, millions still survive. One reason for this is simple: you don’t easily lose a big silver dollar like you would a penny, dime or nickel. These big silver coins tend to be saved– at least those that escape the melting pot. But another reason for the high survival rate is that these coins, simply, did not circulate that much. Sure they saw some use– they were surely popular in the gambling houses of the old West– but people of 100 years ago are much like people today: they don’t like to carry around big heavy coins. Consequently, bags and bags of newly-struck Morgan silver dollars never saw circulation. They languished in bank vaults, only to be released gradually over the years.

History
Morgan dollars were struck in a variety of U.S. mints. They were struck in Philadelphia (no mintmark), New Orleans (O mintmark), San Francisco (S mintmark), and Carson City (CC mintmark). The Carson City Morgan dollars have exploded in popularity in the last few years. Perhaps online coin chatter has enlightened collectors as to the fascinating old West history associated with the Carson City dollars. It’s easy to imagine such silver dollars circulating on the streets of the Sierra Nevada haven of Carson City, as well as on the streets of nearby Virginia City, “Las Vegas of the 1800's.” In fact, the Carson City Morgan dollars are the only Morgan dollars where every coin from that particular mint is an in-demand coin!

After the demise of the Morgan dollar in 1921, many people held onto their Morgan dollars as souvenirs. It wasn’t until the 1960's that Morgan dollars really got promoted as collectibles, but even then, they could be purchased for just a little over face value, so many were available. Morgan dollars received another huge boost in popularity around 1980, when an investment team tried to corner the market on silver, and silver shot up to $50 an ounce! Prices for even common Morgan dollars skyrocketed, but gradually came way down as the 80's progressed.

Today, Morgan dollars are still popular as an investment coin, but don’t look to get rich on the common dates (like our proverbial 1880-P dollar) or common conditions. Knowledgeable Morgan dollar collectors are seeking the scarce date/mintmark combinations. Such would be the 1889-CC, 1893-S, 1894-P, any 1895-dated dollar, and the 1903-O, to name a few. But if these rare dates aren’t available, a lot of collectors seek out Morgan dollars in uncommonly nice condition. They don’t want just basic “mint-state” (MS60-63) Morgan dollars– those are common. What they seek out are a the REALLY high mint-state dollars, (MS64 or higher). Even more desired are Morgan dollars with “proof-like” (almost a mirror type finish) dollars or dollars with beautiful natural toning– orange, red, green, purple. These are what as known as Morgan dollars with killer “eye appeal.”

The Morgan dollar was succeeded in 1921 by the Peace dollar. The Peace dollar, struck 1921 to 1935, is also a beautiful silver dollar, but many consider it to be less beautiful than the Morgan dollar. What’s more, the Peace dollar’s low-relief design is not nearly as eye-catching as the Morgan dollar’s bold-relief design. So after seeing dollar coins like the Peace dollar, followed by the even much less impressive Eisenhower dollar (clad, not silver), the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the Sacagawea dollar, the collector community appreciates the Morgan dollar now more than ever.

Collecting
Individuals collect "Morgans" in a variety of ways. Common ways include a series of dates, dates and mint marks, or dates, mint marks, and major varieties. The Morgan Dollar series gallery below shows a series of dates, mint marks and major varieties. VAM die varieties are considered minor varieties and are shown on the individual Morgan Dollar type coin pages.

Mints

 * Philadelphia Mint (no mintmark)
 * New Orleans Mint (O mintmark)
 * San Francisco Mint (S mintmark)
 * Carson City Mint (CC mintmark)