Expert: Ronald Fern - 10/27/2009

Question
Although the 1889-CC had more Morgans minted than the 1885-CC Morgans, the prices are considerably more for the 1889-CC. I assume that is because someone, somehow, somewhere decided that fewer 1889-CC Morgans actually exist. How do they really know that is factual? What proof exists?
The fact that a hoard of 1885's were found in the early 60's is NOT conclusive evidence that it means there were then less 1889's than 1885's.


Answer
Hello Frankoravec:

Thanks for your question. I originally was going to decline to answer your question because the way it was posed, I didn't think you would be satisfied with any answer, no matter how much information was provided. You seem to have made up your mind that the 1885-CC should command a higher price than the 1889-CC Morgan dollar; but, in the sense of me promising to try and provide information to all who ask, I will try and answer.

You may think that professional coin dealers try to manipulate the trends, but I do not think that possible. My best guess is that all the recorded information, i.e., from auctions, graded coins, like NGC, and PCGS population reports, coupled with the trends, interest of collectors, all go into the establishment of the pricing information on the coins.

Mintage is less important than numbers of survivors. Morgan Dollars were melted periodically for their silver. There seem to be far less 1889 Carson City survivors than the 1885CC which were lucky enough (the hoard you speak of) to be stored in bags in government vaults.

Here is some interesting information that may help support the difference in price for the two coins in question.

Here is part of the article on Morgan Silver Dollars 1878-1921, by Q. David Bowers.

For the complete article, see: http://www.pcgs.com/articles/article_view.chtml?artid=3323%26universeid=313

"In the year 1878 alone, over 20 million Morgan dollars were minted, a figure which exceeded by a large margin the combined coinage of all other silver dollars from 1794 up to that point, including the Flowing Hair, Draped Bust, Gobrecht, and Liberty Seated series!

As time went on, millions of additional Morgan dollars were struck, bagged, and put into storage, although some did see circulation, particularly in the West where "hard money" was favored instead of paper currency. When silver supplies were exhausted under the Bland-Allison Act, trade dollars were melted down and converted to standard silver dollars, and in 1890 the Sherman Silver Purchase Act mandated additional Treasury purchases of silver bullion. Finally, at long last, in 1904, there was no more silver to be coined, and the Morgan dollar came to a temporary end.

In 1918 under the Pittman Act, 270,232,722 silver dollars of earlier dates went to the melting pot. In what must be one of the biggest boondoggles of all time, in 1921, much of this silver was again converted into Morgan dollars; over 85 million new Morgan dollars were struck! This marked the end of the design.

From time to time during the 1920s and 1930s, the Treasury Department would release cloth bags containing 1,000 coins of a particular early date or mintmark Morgan dollar variety. No numismatic attention was paid to the distribution -- cloth bags were taken from the vaults at random. In particular, during the December holiday season each year there was a demand for silver dollars for use as gifts. In the 1930s, collectors were delighted to find that Carson City dollars, which by that time had been considered scarce, were released and could be bought for as low as $2 each.

In autumn 1962, in response to a world-wide rise in the price of silver and a popular speculation in the metal, demand for silver dollars became very intense. Collectors, dealers, and investors sought to buy as many as they could, and many early bags of Morgan dollars came on the market, including some previously scarce varieties such as 1903-O (which in 1962 listed for $1,500 in Uncirculated grade in the Guide Book).

By March 1964, the Treasury vaults were exhausted, except for about three million coins, primarily Carson City issues dated 1882, 1883, and 1884, which had been held back. These retained pieces were sold by the General Services Administration in a series of sales beginning in the 1970s."

From an article By Mike Thorne on CC Dollars: "After 1885, silver dollars weren't minted at Carson City until 1889, which turns out to be the big key to the CC Morgans. In fact, it is one of the keys to the entire Morgan series. Bowers, writing in the Morgan dollar Red Book, says, "In comparison to the demand for them, examples are rare in all grades."

Bowers reports, "Of the 350,000 1889-CC dollars made, many thousands were paid out in the 19th century, yielding a supply of circulated pieces for numismatists today." If you're interested in owning one of these circulated specimens while there are still some priced below $1,000, I would urge you to purchase one soon. According to "Coin Market," they begin at $625 in VG-8, jump to $900 in F-12, and after that, it's onward and upward. In MS-63, the coin lists for $34,000, and if you want one in MS-65, be prepared to shell out around $315,000!"

See link for entire article: http://www.usrarecoininvestments.com/coin_articles/collecting_carson_city_silver...

I could go on, but, so can you. I did not know the EXACT answer to your question. I looked on the Internet and found what you are now reading. I suggest you do some more digging with the information I've provided and come to your own conclusion. I believe it comes down to supply and demand. It may be or seem to be artificial, but apparently there is less supply and more demand for the 1889-CC than the 1885-CC dollar.

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.