Expert: Ronald Fern - 11/17/2009

Question
Just looking for brief history of coin and current values.
Thanks,
Tony

Answer
Hi Tony:

History on the Morgan Dollar. The Morgan Dollar is a silver United States dollar coin. The dollars were minted from 1878 to 1904 and again for one more year in 1921. The Morgan Dollar is named after its designer, George T. Morgan, who designed the obverse and reverse of the coin. Morgan's monogram appears near Lady Liberty's neck on the obverse. The dollar was authorized by the Bland-Allison Act of 1878. It has a fineness of .900, giving a total silver content of 0.77344 troy ounces (24.057 grams# per coin.

The Comstock Lode, one of the greatest silver strikes in history, was discovered in Nevada in the late 1850s. The strike put downward pressure on silver prices worldwide. In 1878 Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act which required the Treasury Department to purchase large amounts of silver, and to strike it as coins. For reasons of economy, the Treasury chose to strike the silver as dollars.

When the dollar was minted in 1878, it was the first dollar issued for American commercial use since the last Seated Liberty Dollar of 1873. The Trade Dollar was minted during this time period but was intended to be used for trade in the Orient. The dollar was continuously minted until 1904 when the supply of dollars in circulation was high and there was an absence of silver bullion. Then in 1918, the Pittman Act called for over 270 million coins to be melted for silver content. In 1921, the coinage of the Morgan Dollar resumed for that year and was replaced by the Peace Dollar commemorative that would become standard issue. Since 1921, many Morgan Dollars have been melted. Melting has mostly occurred when silver prices escalated because these dollars yield silver bullion.

Caches of Morgan Dollars produced at the Carson City Mint were discovered and were sold to coin collectors by the federal government in the early 1970s. Many of these dollars were uncirculated and are called GSAs #named after the General Services Administration) and come in black plastic holders that mimic the holders used for proof silver Eisenhower dollars of the period. These have become collectible items within the GSA encapsulation.

Value depends on date, mint mark and condition. To be able to give you the best opinion on the values of any of your coins, they need to be properly graded. I can give you a range for the retail values, but you should review the link I provide to better grade your coins by comparing the examples to your pieces.
Link: http://coinauctionshelp.com/How_To_Grade_Morgan_Dollars.html

A current issue of "Coin Values" shows the retail value of your Morgan dollars to be: 1880-P, $20 in Good condition to $30 in Extra Fine condition; 1880-O (New Orleans), $20 in Good condition to $30 in Extra Fine condition; 1880-S (San Francisco), $20 in Good condition to $30 in Extra Fine condition, 1880-CC (Carson City), $125 in Good condition to $325 in Extra Fine condition.

Remember, should you choose to sell your coins, get at least two estimates from professional coin dealers (PNG). I've listed a link for you to find them in your area.
Link: http://www.pngdealers.com/dealersearch.php

Dealers normally pay between 50% to 60% of retail for items they want.

You may want to check eBay listings in the dollar category under US coins from time to time to see if coins like yours are listed and what they are going for. You may also want to check out this link on coin values: http://values.hobbizine.com/morgan-dollars.html

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Thank You and Good Luck in your collecting.