Morgan Silver Dollars

In 1859, Patrick McLaughlin and Peter O'Riley were prospecting in Six Mile canyon near Carson City, soon to be the capital of the Nevada territory. Digging a ditch to collect water, they found a rich black soil that yielded a layer of glittering ore. McLaughlin and O'Riley were experienced miners and instantly recognized gold. They eagerly began to wash away the heavy black soil.

In a few short hours, Henry Comstock came riding by on a borrowed pony. He was a colorful character and had a gift for gab. Without a shred of evidence, Comstock convinced McLaughlin and O'Riley that he had a claim on the very spot in which they had found gold. After a long argument, the two agreed to take Comstock in as a partner to avoid any trouble.

Comstock talked so much of "his" mine that soon, hundreds of prospectors were swarming over Six Mile Canyon, washing away the black soil from the gold in the Comstock mine.

Queen of the Silver Strikes
J.F. Stone, a veteran of the California gold rush, was intrigued by the Comstock vein of gold in the Nevada territory. Curious about the heavy black soil being thrown aside by the ton, Stone sent a sample to be assayed in California.

The soil turned out to be incredibly rich in silver, yielding $4,700 a ton. So enormous was the claim that over the next two decades, the Comstock Lode produced more than $300 million in precious metals-and that was in 19th century dollars! Today, the Comstock Lode of Nevada is still known as the Queen of the Silver Strikes.

What became of the partners?
Despite the immense yield of the Comstock Lode, none of the original partners got rich-they all sold out too soon!

Patrick McLaughlin sold his share for $3,500 and soon was broke. He died a few years later while wandering from place to place, working at odd jobs.

Henry Comstock, who considered himself a shrewd bargainer, sold his portion of the claim for $11,500. This is a better price than McLaughlin received, but if Comstock had waited until the main silver vein was reached, his interests would have been worth $80 million. Comstock committed suicide while prospecting in Montana in 1870.

Peter O'Riley held his share until he was offered $50,000, but he began dealing in mining stock and lost everything. Under the influence of "spirits," O'Riley started to dig a tunnel into a nearby peak, believing he was on the trail of a richer strike than the Comstock. The spirits drove him crazy with visions of gold and silver caverns. He spent his last days in a California asylum.

The Comstock Lode and other mines caused Nevada's population to grow ten-fold by 1880. Silver deposits played a very important role in the State's, as well as the nation's history. Prior to its discovery, silver was used sparingly for coinage, but afterward a flood of silver coins and dollars was struck. In facet, this abundance of silver and the fabulous Comstock Lode helped give birth to the Morgan Silver Dollar!

The Morgan silver dollar was first minted in 1878, after a lapse of five years in the production of silver dollars. The coin had a rough start, which would give the first-year-of-issue Morgan dollars and extra measure of interest and historical significance.

The trouble began five years before the first Morgans were minted. The Mint Act of February 1873 ended the production of the Liberty Seated silver dollars in favor of Trade and gold dollars. Silver dollars made up less than one percent of circulating silver, so the public was not much affected by this change.

Silver mine owners out west, however, were outraged. They lobbied and pressured their congressmen. After five years of heated debate, Congress finally authorized the production of a new silver dollar in 1878.

The beautiful new coins became known among collectors as Morgan dollars, in honor of their designers, George T. Morgan, English-born assistant engraver at the Philadelphia Mint.

Morgan made several studies of Greek profiles at the Philadelphia Academy of Fine Arts, but was searching for an American girl to represent Liberty. Thomas Eakins, a renowned landscape painter and friend of Morgan's suggested Anna Willess Williams, a fellow art student and schoolteacher.

Williams was reluctant at first to pose for Morgan. In those days, "nice" girls did not model for artists! She insisted on strict secrecy, fearing she would lose her job if the truth were known. Williams sat for Morgan five times, and he would later declare she had a nearly perfect profile.

Some years later, a newspaper reporter discovered the identity of Morgan's Liberty and over protests printed the story. Williams, as she feared, lost her teaching position. Fortunately, she found another teaching job and remained in Philadelphia until her death in 1926, just five years after the last Morgan silver dollar was minted.

The American Eagle on the reverse of the coin was also the subject of some controversy. On all previous U.S. coins, eagles had an uneven number of tail feathers, but Morgan's eagle had eight. There was widespread agreement that an even number of tail feathers was the proper representation of the bird. Under public pressure, the U.S. Mint decided to change the eagle's tail from eight to seven tail feathers.

Since Philadelphia was the only mint that had struck Morgans, mint personnel gathered up all the unused 8-feather dies and simply re-struck them with the new 7-feather design. As a result, a small number of 1878 Morgan dollars have superimposed reverse designs are known as the 7 over 8 tail feathers variety.

Eventually, newly engraved dies with the 7-feather design were used at the Philadelphia Mint. As a result, three varieties of the 1878 Morgan silver dollar were produced: 8-feather, 7/8-feather and the first 7-feather coins - all without a mint mark.

Later in 1878, the 7-feather coins were struck at both of the western mints - Carson City, Nevada, and San Francisco, California-making five distinct varieties of Morgans during its very first year of issue!

Although much controversy and debate surrounded these coins- the Morgan silver dollar went on to become one of the most popular silver collector coins of all time!