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The History and Popularity of the Morgan Silver
Dollar
by D. L. Crane United States
coinage is a treasure trove of rich history,
each coin has its own unique story within it
that is deeply intertwined in the nation’s
history. The
Morgan Silver dollar is one of
these coins that have an integral part in the
growth of America. This silver dollar coin came
into existence because of an oversupply of
silver mainly due to the discovery of a huge
deposit of silver in Colorado during the 1870’s.
As the supply of silver increased as a result of
the huge silver strike, the prices of silver plummeted
rapidly. In order to halt the crash in the
prices of silver, the United States government
began buying silver to reduce it's supply and
began minting coins with it. That is when the Morgan
silver dollar was created.
The
Morgan Silver dollar was
named after George T. Morgan, its designer. It
was enacted by congress through the
Bland-Allison act of 1878, authorizing use of
the silver surplus for the silver dollar. There
were five cities where the dollar was minted,
San
Francisco,
Carson City,
Denver,
Philadelphia and
New Orleans. Unfortunately the plan was not
fully planned out and it resulted in the over
production of Morgan silver dollars, which in
turn burdened the government in the costly
storage of the unused coins. It was not until
1918 when the government authorized the melting
of almost 300 million coins, that the situation
was finally solved.
The unique history of the
Morgan Silver Dollar is one of the main reasons
for its
popularity today, though in those past times is was
plainly unpopular. It’s somewhat large size
earned it the nickname “buzzard dollar” and was
scoffed at by people back then. Today the Morgan
Silver Dollar is one of the most prized coins by most
collectors. The
PCGS (Professional coin grading
service) is one of the major certification
companies of rare coins and
NGC (Numismatics guaranty
corporation), also a company involved in grading
coins, both say that the Morgan Silver Dollar
is ranked among the most coveted of coins for collectors
of rare
numismatics.
The Morgan silver dollar’s
value depends mostly on its mintage, condition
and where it is minted.
Coins minted in
Carson City are the most valued
and are the rarest. Any collector can seek the
help of third parties like PCGS and NGC to
assess the authenticity of each coin. Anyone
with a genuine high grade scarce Morgan Silver dollar can really
be proud of it and it is quite a rare item.
It is remarkable to know so much history is
attached to the coins that we often take for
granted. The
Morgan Silver Dollar is one of
these coins that at first was the unpopular
solution to a crisis, which became a problem for
the government, thereby resulted in it being
stored away in a vault and finally became one of
the most sought relics of the Wild West years of
the United States. The Morgan Silver dollar has
a hundred year history in it and will always be
one of the witnesses of the growth of the United
States of America.
Click Here to read more about the U.S. Morgan
Silver Dollar
Click here for Morgan Silver Dollar Price Guide
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for great prices on all coins and currency.
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