Morgan and Peace Silver Dollars

The Morgan silver dollar is legal tender and was produced from 1878 until 1904. It experienced one more special minting during 1921 before being replaced by the Peace silver dollar. Prior to the Morgan dollar, the last silver dollars issued as regular tender were the Liberty Seated dollars. These were minted from 1840 until 1873. During this period of time, the silver content of these coins became more valuable than the actual face value of the dollars themselves.

In 1873 the Liberty Seated dollars were replaced with "Trade dollars" which were used until 1885. They were mainly utilized to compete with similar coins used by foreign countries when buying goods overseas. By 1887, all trade dollars were redeemed and no longer used.

The Morgan dollar is more popular today than ever, but as a collectible rather than legal tender. This dollar gets its name from its designer, George Morgan. You will find his initial on each Morgan dollar. It is located on the obverse (front) side of the coin right near Lady Liberty's neck. All Morgan dollars are .900 coin silver (90% silver).

Thanks to the Pittman Act of 1918, over 250 million coins were melted for their silver content. This led the way for the Morgan dollar to become even more collectible in the future. During their years of production Morgan dollars were minted in five different locations. The mint locations are as follows:

D = Denver Mint in Colorado
S = San Francisco Mint in California
CC = Carson City Mint in Nevada
P = Philadelphia Mint in Pennsylvania
O = New Orleans Mint in Louisiana

The letter depicting the appropriate mint location appears on the obverse side of the Morgan dollar right above and between the D and O in the word dollar. The most valuable of these mint marks is CC (Carson City). The number of coins minted in Carson City is far below the amount minted at the other locations making them harder to come by.

Some people collect Morgan dollars for their silver content alone. Many Morgan dollars continue to be melted for spot, mostly the ones that have no intrinsic value to coin collectors. Coin collectors are interested in much more than silver content. The collecting of Morgan dollars, as with many other coins, has become big business and so has the complexity of what makes them valuable.

The basics that determine the value of a Morgan dollar:

Grading. This is when a coin is evaluated by an independent third party that decides the condition of a coin based on pre-determined industry standards. A graded coin will be slabbed (encapsulated within a protective plastic holder) with a grade number assigned to it. The grade number will identify the coin as fair, good, very good, excellent, etc. There are many Internet sites that provide much more detailed information about the grading process, as well as who the acceptable grading companies are.

 Distribution. Circulated coins (used as legal tender) are the least valuable. Uncirculated coins have never been distributed for use and are therefore more valuable. Proof coins have an even higher value. The word "proof" has nothing to do with the grading of a coin. It strictly has to do with how a coin was struck at the mint. Today proof coins are solely produced for collectors and have mirror-like or frosted finishes. When Morgan dollars were being produced, many had deep mirror proof-like finishes (DMPL) even though they were minted for circulation. Those that were held back and not circulated are the most sought after.

Mint. Certain mint marks are more desirable than others, such as Carson City. Value can be affected by the combination of a certain mint mark and a particular year of production.

VAM's. Now things get more complicated. VAM stands for Van Allen - Mallis. These are the names of the two people who published the definitive research material on die variations encountered in the minting process of Morgan dollars. Their work speaks to the differences in dies as coins were struck at the mints. The diversities in the dies and the different alterations of them are called VAM's and these VAM's affect the inherent value of each Morgan dollar. VAM's are numbered by variation and are tied into the year of production and each combination can be unique.

Errors. These are coins that were incorrectly produced by the mint. An example would be a coin that was struck off-center. Although not errors, there are also variations that can effect the value of a coin such as a double-strike.

In 1921, as the special and final minting of the Morgan dollar was taking place, a new silver dollar was emerging. It was designed by Anthony de Francisci. Minted between 1921 and 1928 and minted then again from 1934 to 1935 the Peace dollar is 90% silver just like the Morgan dollar. It was named the Peace dollar to coincide with the end of World War I and also because "Peace" appears on the reverse of the coin at the bottom.

After the Peace dollar, no other silver dollars were ever minted again for the purpose of being circulated. All in all, coin collecting is a very complex business but it can be a very profitable one as well. There are some scarce Morgan dollars that can fetch big money. To be a serious coin collector, you need to be well versed in addition to being well funded. If coin collecting interests you, you can start by collecting average to good quality Morgan and Peace dollars as well as other types of coins.

If silver goes as high as some people seem to think it will, then some of the Morgan and Peace dollars you purchase now could make you money based strictly on their spot value. Coins that have been slabbed carry a higher price tag so if you are strictly interested in collecting for the silver content only, buy Morgan and Peace dollars that don't have a high intrinsic value. Condition is unimportant if your intent is to melt them when spot reaches the personal selling price you have set for yourself.

Since the production of the Morgan and Peace silver dollars, many other dollars have been minted but none have reached the status of these older dollars. Some of the others include the Eisenhower dollar, the Walking Liberty dollar, the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the newer Presidential dollars.

Written by Anne Benedetto, Auction House Talk
 All Rights Reserved

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