Is the Morgan Dollar one of the main pieces in your collection or of someone you know? Well, it’s no surprise as it is one of the most popularly collected coins. In general, it is not uncommon to own or have seen a Morgan Dollar. There have been over 650 million Morgan Dollars minted throughout the coins’ tenure in US coinage history. The series began in 1878 and ended in 1904, only to resume for its final year during 1921. In fact, 1921 produced a total of over 80 million Morgan Dollars alone from the three mints of Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Denver.
Throughout the series, there are many types of sets collected by enthusiasts. An obvious and popularly collected set is the date and/or date and mintmark set. With 28 production years in the series with a varying number of mintages from mints producing in certain years, doing so can range from various levels of difficulty depending on the quality of set one intends to pursue. Regardless, a known key date throughout the series with only 100,000 coins minted is the 1893 S Morgan Dollar which would still run a couple thousand in low and near basal state grades. Fortunately, most dates in the series are budget friendly for those interested in pursuing a lower end date/mintmark set.
Furthermore, enthusiasts of Morgan Dollars collect VAMs (die varieties of Morgan Dollars and Peace Dollars with VAM being an acronym for the last names of the numismatists who discovered them, Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis). Some are not too difficult to find, but others are downright rare with only a few pieces in existence. Common VAMs can add little to no premium, while a rare VAM can add hundreds or thousands in premium.
One of our personal favorites are prooflike (PL) or deep mirror prooflike (DMPL) Morgan Dollar sets. These Morgan Dollars have a mirror like reflectivity to them and typically have cameo or frosty devices of the liberty or eagle. They are the result of fresh new dies or freshly re-polished dies striking a silver dollar planchet. Over time, these dies will wear down and the coins struck by the worn dies will no longer have mirrored surfaces. These dollars vary in rarity, with some dates like the 1880 S being quite common in PL or DMPL while a date like 1921 D is tough to find even in PL considering its relatively large mintage.
In addition, Morgan Dollar enthusiasts also enjoy collecting colorfully toned (tarnished) pieces. A well toned Morgan Silver Dollar in high grade with eye appealing color can bring a substantial premium at auction. However, not all toning is good toning. In general, any color that can be found in a rainbow is good toning and is typically sold at a premium. Toning nearing brown or black or unattractive spotting is usually sold for at a discount. It is important to note, there is natural toning and there is artificial toning. Artificial toning is generally done using chemicals or heat, but may include various other methods. Artificial toning creates what is intended to look like natural toning, but for those with a trained eye it is not difficult to tell which is which. Natural toning typically has a progression of colors (yellow to orange and red), while artificial toning may go from (green to red to yellow). The best way to train your eye is to look at toned coins that have been graded by reputable third party grading services such as PCGS or NGC and see what these coins look like and then to compare them to ungraded toned coins or graded ‘Questionable Color/Altered Color’.
With so many reasons to collect Morgan Dollars, it can be difficult not to have the urge to fill your old shoeboxes with them and become a newfound hoarder of historic American mementos. Whether collecting serves as a past time, a way of going back to the future (in reverse), or investment purposes, collecting will remain a hobby for enthusiasts and a curiosity to those around. Happy collecting!