Morgan Dollars are arguably the most popular of all United States coin series. Struck from 1878 to 1904 and in 1921, the coins are associated with the adventurous times of the Wild West, of figures like Billy the Kid and Buffalo Bill.
The reality is a little far away from that, as millions were stored in treasury vaults around the country until their eventual release in the 1960′s, but the stories all coin collectors have heard carry a much nicer ring.
The series, which was struck at a total of five Mints (although not each Mint struck Silver Dollars in each year the design was in production), is filled with rarities and interesting coins that will appeal to novice and experienced collectors alike.
In this article we will take a look at some of the well-known key dates, condition rarities, and just plain interesting coins of that fabled Morgan Silver Dollar series. (Refer main article link below)
The 1884-S Morgan Dollar is a very interesting issue and the prime condition rarity of the series. In the absolute sense, it can hardly considered a scarce coin, as its mintage of 3,200,000 coins is not all that low.
Coins in grades up to the XF level are regularly encountered, and AU’s are merely scarce. In uncirculated condition, however, the story changes radically. Virtually the entire mintage was released into circulation and since numismatists at the time were not focused on mint marks.
They settled for the much more common Philadelphia (Proof) issue and did not pursue the San Francisco coin. As a result the coin is a major rarity in uncirculated condition, jumping in price exponentially in grades above MS-60.
Most uncirculated survivors show heavy bagmarks and lack eye-appeal, and even pieces grading MS-64 are a major rarity. In gem uncirculated condition this is simply put one of the rarest coins of the series, encountered less frequently than the some of the other key-dates with lower mintages.
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