Morgan Silver Dollar Information thread

[Roadquest]

The Morgan Silver Dollar is one of the most fascinating, and beautiful coins ever produced in the Untied States.
" Morgan Silver Dollars are far and away the most widely collected "classic" United States coins. Struck from 1878 to 1904 and then in 1921."
" In the early years, 1878 through 1904, four differant mints were used to strike Morgan Dollars. Philadelphia 1878-1904, Carson City
1878-1885 and 1889-1893, New Orleans 1879-1904 ans San Francisco 1878-1904.
Without doubt, the Carson City Mint invokes images of the Wild West, gambling in the mining districts, and more part of American
tradition and drama. Today many of the collectors focus on the " CC " dollars .

Post you Morgan Silver Dollar pictures here. I know a lot of members collect these great old coins.
I will be adding more information on the Moegan dollar.
What are your thoughts on these old "cartwheel" dollars?

Roadquest

 

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[Gypsy Heart]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

My main thought about Morgans ........is that I could find about 100000 in one hole.....and soon

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

Well now, if i were to find 100000 in a hole, that would keep me pretty busy, checking each
and every one. But, I'm a glutton for punishment... and besides, i would'en want to put all that
work on someone else.

 

[tinkb]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

I remember when I was in elementary school, late 50s/early 60s, my grandmother would give me a Morgan or Peace dollar for Christmas, my birthday and the last day of school for not missing any days. Yes by the time I was 12 I had quite a collection of silver dollars.

Heavy, large, thick and has that feel to it that feel like it worth something. Unfortunately like others during the late 70s, I was hard pressed for cash and sold them all for the scrap value. They brought in some extra well needed cash but I regret doing it everyday. I have quite a few Morgans and peace dollar now but most just circulated condition.

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

yes Tinkb, That's one of the things I like about the Morgan dollar, they are large and heavy. 90% silver.
Some of these coins can be bought for less than $20.00 each And some of them that have a large mintage
are valuable, because a large number of them were melted down. So, just because sure of them. have high mintage.
Does not automatically mean that they are not worth much. There were 10,710,000 1886-0 Morgans minted.
The Red book (The official Red Book A guide of United States Coins 2009) List this coin at $25.00 value in VF-20
But, that same coin at MS-63 list at $4.000 and it jumps to $10.000 at MS-64 Now these Red Book prices are what you may pay for them at a coin dealer. You can get them for less. But, if you have this coin, and take it to that same coin dealer. He's not going to pay
you any where near the Red Book price. Morgans are good investment coins. People should lean, and research the Morgan before
starting a collection.

Roadquest

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

"The San Francisco Mint has a story of its own. The impressive new Mint building, made of granite. was opened
in 1874. During the earth quake and fire of April 1906, it was the only structure in its district to remain intact.
The coin presses in that facility struck many millions of Morgan dollars, most being very carefuly made. With
excellent sharpness of details.

New Orleans, way down South in Dixie, had its Mint close to the levee guarding the city fromthe Mississippi River.
Coinage techniques were a bit differant from those at San Francisco minting was done in haste, and today this
is evidenced by New Orleans dollars often being weak at the centers, sloppy workmanship parhaps. haste maybe.
We will probably never know the details.

Philadelphia, the "mother mint" is where all dies were made.sometime, not quite right. with punching, mintmarks
at crazy angles, and more, parphaps technically reflecting the loss of quality control, but for the numismatist yielding
a garden of delightful varieties, Philadelphia also turned out a brilliant cascade of spaeking silver dollars by the millions.
In adaddition, Proofs with mirrored surfaces were made there each year for collectors, and sold at a premium."

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[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

The first Morgan Silver Dollar was made in March, 1878 from designs by George T. Morgan, In the eagles tail the feathers
numbered eight, but the dies were modified to show just seven feathers.During the second week of production of the
new silver dollar Director Linderman came to Philadelphia to meet with the officials and engravers Barber and Morgan. He
directed that new hubs be made for the obverse and reverse to slightly reduce the relief of the designs, to facilitate coinage.
and that the number oftail feathers in the eagle be changed from 8 to 7 as earlier birds on coins were said to have an odd
number of feathers. as evidenced by one center feather that was longer than the other.

New dies were made by impressing the new 7 Tail feather hub over existing impressions from the 8 Tail feather hub,
creating reverses that coined the " Double Tail Feathers dollars varieties, On April 26th the new dies were being used in the coining roomThe 1878 8 Tail Feather dollars were minted between March 12 to March 25th.
Some 649,300 the total for the first two weeks, reflect the total 8 Tail Feather coinage struck.

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[tinkb]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

You want to see an impresive collection of Silver Dollars, go to the Carson City Mint. I was there last two years ago and about fell over looking t all the coins that were minted there. they had every year minted there on display and every denomination they died. They even have the old press back in service minting commems you can watch on Fridays. Quite an experience for a silver dollar collector.

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

You want to see an impresive collection of Silver Dollars, go to the Carson City Mint. I was there last two years ago and about fell over looking t all the coins that were minted there. they had every year minted there on display and every denomination they died. They even have the old press back in service minting commems you can watch on Fridays. Quite an experience for a silver dollar collector.

Just put that on my to do list...

Roadquest

 

[hyperion]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

Step one ... confession! Yes I am an obsessed Morgan collector.

My main focus now is collecting die varieties of Morgan and Peace dollars catalogued by Leroy VanAllen and George Mallis. They are called VAMs ... derived from the combination of the two names. These two pioneers started their efforts in the late 60's and the popularity of VAMs didn't take off until around 10 years ago. Today, VAMming is growing like wildfire. The reason: There are still plenty of undiscovered coins out there that are available for under $50 and sell for over $5000. Talk about the ultimate treasure hunt.

Just some basic facts about VAMs ... every Morgan and Peace dollar is a VAM. The vast majority of VAMs don't carry a premium in price, but a select few (around 100 or so varieties of Morgans and a smaller number of Peace dollars) get moon money! The VAM number identifies the obverse (front) and reverse die marriage used when striking the coin. In the first year of production at the Philadelphia mint alone, there were over 200 different die marriages. That year has some of the priciest varieties, too. As major changes occurred to the die, it produced different results, i.e., die polishing and gouges to the die made by mint engravers during the life of the die. As the die deteriorated, it developed breaks that produced dramatic results on the coins surface. These dies did not last long in this condition before they were replaced by mint employees, so very few examples exist of these major breaks ... google 1888-O Scarface to see an example.

Here's a picture of a coin I picked up for around $30. It's an 1878 8 Tail Feather VAM 9. The VAM 9 was proved to be the "first Morgan" struck by the Philadelphia mint in March 1878. This is known because two examples were sent to President Hayes to commemorate the event. A reporter was on hand to document the minting and reported that just over 300 coins were struck before the reverse die broke and had to be replaced with a different die. VanAllen and Mallis studied the Hayes coins to catalogue this particular die pairing. This coin grades XF40 and is worth around $750.




Here's a link to the current comprehensive list of Morgan and Peace VAMs
http://www.vamworld.com/Morgan+VAMs+By+Date

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

The 1889 CC Morgan dollar, is one of my favorite. If anyone looks at the mint mark very carefully.
You can see that the CC come in many differant strikes. Some lean to the left, some to the right.
Some heavy , some light. I call these lazy strikes.

One thing to look for in the Morgan coins, are the "sleeper coins" They are the mid mintage coins.
The 1901-S for example. There were 2,284,000 of these minted. They list @ $40.00 for VF-20
and jump to $400.00 @ MS-60 When I buy a coin, I look for these type. And try to buy the best
that I can afford.

Another Morgan, that is worth keeping an eye on, is the 1892-CC In 2007 it was valued at $200.00 @ F-12
in 2009 its @ $275.00 @ F-12 @ VF-20 it was $300.00 now @ $400.00

These coins will have a differant value, from person to person. The prices that I list are from professional coin listings.

Roadquest

 

[GL]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

I have lots of Morgans but the two I like best are the two I have found here on my own property.
One my daughter dug up in the yard. It's the reason I registered here. I think it looks really nice for being in the dirt for who knows how long.

And the one I found in the old house in a mason jar in the rafters. That was a long time ago and I carry it for luck.

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

hyperion,

Thats a beautiful Morgan. Warning Collecting and researching Morgan Silver Dollars can become habit forming
Several obverse modifications were made with the 1878 through 1880 date range.
The reverse types are: Type A 8 Tail Feathers Eight feathers in the eagles tail. Paralled top to topmost arrow feather on reverse.
Eagle's brest flat, not rounded. Used only on Morgan dollars struck early in 1878 at the P hiladelphia mint. Nomenclature tail
feathers.

Reverse Type B 7 Tail feathers Reverse of 1878 Parallel Arrow Feather ( PAF ) Seven feathers in eagle's tail. Parallel top to topmost
arrow feather on reverse. Eagle's brest flat, not rounded. Used on most dollars of 1878, all 1878-CC, most 1878-S some 1879-S
some 1880-CC Nomenclature when used to describe dollars dated 1878; 7 Tail Feathers, Reverse 1878 PAF . Nomendature
whenused to describe certain dated 1879 and 1880, Reverse 1878 PAF

Reverce Type C Reverce of 1879 Slanting Arrow Feather Slanting top to topmosr arrow feather on reverse. Eagle's brest rounded, Used on some 1878, some 1878-S , all 1879 all 1879-CC all 1879-0 ..most 1879-S all 1880, most 1880-CC all 1880-0 all 180-S all 1881 to 1904 In 1900 the reverse C was slighty alered, now with a larger space between the eagle's left wing and the eagle;s neck, and most inportant shallow definition of feathers on the eagle;s brest. This modifed style was used on some but not all dates, and mints od dollars 1900 to 1904, at the same time certain varieties were employing the earlier version, ans still others had the working die made by impressing the modified design over the earlier design.

Roadquest

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

GL,

Those Morgans are nice finds. It's the coins with the personal value, that you want to always keep.
They are in good shape for being in the ground for so long. What did you clean them with?

Roadquest

 

[GL]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

I cleaned my daughters(against a lot of peoples direction) with silver cleaner and a polish cloth. My avatar is the result. Perfectly clean and very bright.

The second one was polished by me holding and rubbing it when I got tense at work. It has turned back to a mellow grey. When I found it it was black and dusty in the bottom of a mason jar behind some rafters in the 19th century cabin behind my home.

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

1878 Morgan Silver Dollar 8 Tail Feathers. Circulation Strike Mintage 750,000 Proof Mintage 500

1878 Morgan Silver Dollar Doubled Tail Feathers A.K.A 7 over 8 Tail Feathers Circulation Strike Mintage 500,000

!878 Morgan Silver Dollar 7 Tail Feather Reverse of 1879 ( SAF ) Circulation Strike Mintage 1,500,000 Proff Mintage 25-50

1878 -CC Morgan Silver Dollar All with reverse of 1878 ( PAF ) Circulation Strike Mintage 2,212,000

1878 - S Morgan Silver Dollar All with reverse of 1878 ( PAF ) Circulation Strike Mintage 9,774,000

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

1879 Morgan Silver Dollar All with reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage of 14,806,000 Proof Mintage 1,700

1879 - CC Morgan Silver Dollar All with reverse of 1879 SAF Ciculation Strike Mintage 756,000

1879 - 0 Morgan Silver Dollar All with reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage 2,887,000

1879 - S Morgan Silver Dollar Reverse of 1878 PAF Circulation Strike Mintage 500,000

1879 -S Morgan Silver Dollar Reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage 8,600,000

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1880 Morgan Silver Dollar All with reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage 12,600,000 Proof Mintage 1,355

1880 - CC Morgan Silver Dollar Reverse of 1878 PAF Circulatiom Strike Mintage 125,000

1880 - CC Morgan Silver Dollar Reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage 360,000

1880 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar All reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage 5,305,000

1880 -S Morgan Silver Dollar Al with reverse of 1879 SAF Circulation Strike Mintage 8,900,000

 

[GL]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

I should go through mine. I never have. They are awesome coins.

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

1881 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 9,163,000 Proof Mintage 984

1881 -CC Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 296,000

1881 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 5,708,000

1881 -S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 12,760,000

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1882 Morgan Silver Dollar Ciculation Strike Mintage 11,100,000

1882 -CC Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 1,133,000

1882 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 6,090,000

1882 -0/S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage ( Small part of mintage for 1882-0 )

1882 - S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 9,250,000


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1883 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 12,290,000 Proof Mintage 1,039

1883 -CC Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 1,204,000

1883 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Stated Mintage 8,725,000

1883-S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Stated Mintage 6,250,000


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1884 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 14,070,000 Propf Mintage 875

1884 -CC Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 1,136,000

1884 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 9,730,000

1884 -S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 3,200,000

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1885 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 17,187,000 Proof Mintage 930

1885 -CC Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 228,000

1885 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 9,185,000

1885-S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 1,487,000

 

[Roadquest]

Re: Morgan Silver Dollar thread..Post you thoughts about the Morgan here.

1886 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 19,963,000 Proff Mintage 886

1886 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 10,710,000

1886 -S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Mintage 750,000

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1887 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Mintage 20,290,000 Proof Mintage 710

1887/6 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Mintage 350,000

1887/6-0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 200,000

1887 -0 Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 11,550,000

1887-S Morgan Silver Dollar Circulation Strike Mintage 1,771,000