Morgan Silver Dollar

Considered by many to be the best design of George T. Morgan's career, the Morgan Dollar is a beautiful work of art. Miss Liberty's head on the obverse occupies the majority of the space. Surrounding Miss Liberty is an array of thirteen stars and the words "E PLURIBUS UNUM", latin for "Out of many, one."

On the reverse sits a bald eagle perched on a branch and arrows with wings spread. Partially surrounded by a wreath, above the eagle's head is the motto "In God we Trust" and around the rim are the words "United States of America" separated by a star on either side from the words "One Dollar." The edge is reeded.

A mint mark, if the coin is not from the Philadelphia mint, is located on the reverse directly below the center of the wreath. Mint marks are located on the reverse below the center of the wreath. There is no mint mark if the coin was produced in Philadelphia, O for the New Orleans Mint, S if it was made in San Francisco, CC for the Carson City, Nevada mint and D for those produced in Denver.

Physically the Morgan Dollar is large, 38.1 mm in diameter and weighs 26.73 grams. Composed of .900 fine silver and .100 copper the silver coin has a silver content of .77344 pure silver.

Passed in February 1878 over the veto of then President Rutherford B. Hayes, the Bland-Allison Act required the federal government to purchase $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 of silver bullion each month. This silver was then to be made into one dollar coinage. The difference between the face value of the coin and the cost of the silver bullion and production was to be retained by the government, not the silver bullion depositors as had been tradition in the past.

Why was the Bland-Allison act considered necessary? The international price of silver had been on the slide for a number of years with the Comstock Load in Nevada having dumped millions of ounces of the sparkling silver on the market. The silver producers had been asking for government support of a price and Congressmans Richard P. Bland of Missouri along with William B. Allison from Iowa were happy to oblige, for what reasons we'll probably never know, but there was apparently heavy lobbying by owners of silver mines.

The consequence of all of this is that more than 500 million Morgan Dollars were minted during its production years. Relatively few of those ever saw the light of day in circulation. Left to pile up in Treasury vaults they were rarely seen in the eastern U.S. and only saw large circulation in the west. Over 200,000,000 were subsequently melted by direction of the Pittman Act of 1918 but that left millions stored in bags of 1,000 in vaults at various mints and other vaults.

In the mid 20th century, as the price of silver rose, people realized the silver content of these beautiful silver dollars exceeded their face value...and the race was on to get their hands on as many as they could get. At that time they could still be purchased at face value from the mint and many banks. Many of those released from Treasury vaults had long been considered scarce or rare but in reality they had simply lain uncirculated in bags stacked inside those very vaults. Thousands of those bags were sold and were the source of the beautiful mint condition uncirculated coins available on the market today until distribution was stopped. The final few million were then distributed by the General Services Administration (GSA)in a series of auctions.

So, from Congressional boondoggle to a collectors fortune, the Morgan silver dollar has become a staple in many coin hobbyists collections. Its is recognized world wide and the appeal of owning Morgan Dollars is strong.

Much of the appeal of collecting the Morgan dollar is its wild west heritage...about the only place in the United States where it was widely circulated!

Holding one in your hand it's easy to imagine them stacked on the poker table in saloons filled with cowboy characters straight out of central casting. It's easy to imagine Jesse James, Doc Holiday, the Earps and others paying their bar bill or gambling with them like the thousands of gamblers in early Las Vegas days did. Those coins minted at the Carson City, NV mint are especially prized by collectors. Compared to the other mints where they were produced Carson City produced relatively few and it is the mint most closely associated with the Comstock Load and silver and gold fields of Nevada.

It's big and it contains nearly a full ounce of silver and the intrinsic value of the silver content has a strong appeal as an investment. Over the years hoards of the big silver dollar have been discovered. One of the largest was that of reclusive LaVere Redfield. After his death his hoard of 411,000 silver dollars was discovered and subsequently sold of $7.3 million dollars. There have been many other large hoards discovered over the years, including that of famous Las Vegas casino owner Ted Binion, and others will surely be found.

For hobbyists and numismatic collectors the history of the coins and where they were produced draws them into becoming collectors. While many collect by mint and date there is a whole field of numismatics that's grown up around collecting varieties of the Morgan dollar. Because millions of them were produced they were thousands of dies used to create them. And the differences in those dies, including die breaks, doubling, over stamping of dates, leads many to collect specific and rare varieties of the silver dollar.

Silver Morgan dollars can be acquired at a relatively low cost even in mint state uncirculated condition depending on the mint, year and variety. To be sure, there are genuinely rare and scarce issues that command higher prices. But for the beginning collector, and experienced, with patience and a plan, a very nice collection can be put together.

Collecting the silver Morgan dollar can be fun, educational and even profitable. But how do you go about collecting them? There are many different ways of putting together an attractive, meaningful and possibly profitable collection.

Early collectors tended to collect only by year and specific mint issues were ignored. Today, collecting by year and mint is more popular For the typical collector that might be a tough stretch to do for all Morgan dollars because of all the mints involved.

Many collectors have specialized in collecting by mint. In other words, by acquiring Morgans based on where they were produced...especially Carson City Morgan dollars.

Whatever your plan is to add Morgan dollars to your collection, acquiring them isn't any different than collecting any coin. You always strive to find the best coin you can to add to your collection. If you're new to collecting coins it's advisable to purchase certified coins.

Why? Acquiring certified coins helps you by:

1. Ensuring your coin is authentic,
2. Establishing the coins condition.

Once a coins authenticity and condition is established a grade can be determined and priced accordingly. When it comes to buying certified coins there are many third party grading companies who claim to certify coins. There are only 4 who are recognized as being consistent, dependable and trustworthy: PCGS, NGC, ANACS and ICG. And between these four you will find variances. Why? Because grading coins is subjective.

A wide selection of Morgan dollars certified by PCGS, NGC and ANACS are available at Morgan Dollar Coins Certified Morgan Dollars.

There are many places to acquire coins. Your local coin shop, local auctions, coin shows, online stores and auction houses like Heritage Auctions. eBay has become one of the largest online coin sources.

There is much more to the story of the silver Morgan dollar. And that story continues to this day as collectors around the world add their pieces to the puzzle. Who knows? Your part of that story may be next!

I'd invite you to visit Morgan Dollar Coin to find a wide selection of Morgan Dollars, bother certified and raw, to add to your collection. You'll also find in depth historical information and mintage by year of the beautiful and highly collectible silver Morgan Dollar.

Collecting coins doesn't always have to be about the big gold or silver coins...sometimes it's just about having fun and finding the "special to you" coins like Pennies, Nickels and Dimes that we find in our pocket change. It's a great way to start kids on the way to understanding the value of money. If the Quarter Dollar is your favorite of silver coins be sure and take time to visit Silver Quarter Shop where you'll find one of the easiest search tools to find the exact coin you're looking for!

For a little fun check out the Coin T-Shirts at Shirt Art Shop for your favorite numismatist. Great gifts for the holidays...great fun!