Morgan Dollars (1878-1921)

Glad I can help!

OK, get the list together, write down what you have, type it here.

Then what we're going to do is get you identifying what you have. Remember, there's about 91 different Morgans if you wanted to put a collection of business strikes together (Business strike is a coin that was meant to be spent, not a proof). I say about because some people will collect the odd variety, if you want to get into die varieties, god, there must be up to a thousand different coins.

But we're not going there just yet.

Like any series really, most Morgans are not especially valuable or rare, the Government minted about half a billion of them, and I'd say that at least 200 Million survuve today and I would estimate that there's probably close to 50% of that amount in uncirculated condition. Even though they are old, most surviving Morgan dollars actually entered the collector market in the 60s and 70s, in some cases as many as 85% of the mintages of certain dates were never released into circulation, only being sold off in relatively modern times after sitting in the basement of the US treasury for perhaps as long as 90-100 years.

However, there are key dates which can be quite valuable.

As a general rule, the Morgans you want to keep something of an eye for are going to be anything with a "CC" Mint Mark, 1888S, 1892S, 1893S (This is called the King of Morgans and very valuable), any 1895, 1896-O or 1896-S, 1899, 1901S, 1902S, 1903-O and 1903S, 1904S.

Those are the valuable ones, and some are cheap in circulated condition but quite valuable in uncirculated condition, those would be the few dates that weren't in the treasury hoards, so they were spent and used in commerce, and since $1 was a ton of money in the late 1800s, nobody saved mint condition coins. Some of these are dates that are $20 at a coin show in F or VF, and $2,000 in MS62. The 1883S and 1884S are good examples of this, common priced in circulated, worth $25 and $30 in circulated shape, and the 83S is worth something like $20k in MS65 and I think the 84S is a 6 figure coin in MS65.

I'm sure I missed a bunch, but let's get an idea of what you have first, and we'll go from there.

If you want a good basic and inexpensive book, buy "The official RED BOOK" Brand's "A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, a complete history and price guide" written by Q. David Bowers. It's softcover, lists for $19.95 and there's almost guaranteed to be a copy at your local coin shop or Barnes and Noble that you can buy tonight. You want the third edition and there's a 1904-O on the cover.

 

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Based on a look at the 1879-S and 1879-O in the pictures, I would say they could be AU or even uncirculated. It is difficult to tell with pictures only, especially when taken through plastic. The 1879-S has the 1878 reverse making it a variety worth a few bucks more, but it is still relatively common.

I've been collecting a few years and have an almost complete Morgan dollar set lacking only the 1893-S and 1894. These will be a challenge to obtain in the near future while paying for my son's college costs.

Read what you can about the Morgan Dollars and what people post here. I agree with the recommendation of Bowers Red Book series on Morgan Dollars. There is an awful lot to learn about this coin! Have fun!

 

compiled a list here... i may have missed some mints, but definitely not years. I guess my grand pa missed out on the real rare ones!

1878-p (no idea about tail)
1879-p,o
1880-o
1881-o,s,p
1882-o
1883-p,o
1884-p,o
1885-p
1886-p
1887-p,o
1888-p
1890-s,p
1891-s
1896-p
1897-s,p
1898-p
1899-p
1900-p
1902-o
1903-p
1921-p,d


Peace Dollars (poorer condition)
1922-
1923
1924

thank you again for all the replies!

 

ok, the 80-O is anywhere from better to semi-key depending on condition, the 1899 and 1903 are both good coins, they can be quite valuable depending on condition.

It's a long shot, but any chance you can get up close pics of the 1887P and 1887O dates? There's a remote chance they may also be something.

So you do have a few better ones, but the typical inherited collection doesn't usually come chock full of CCs and rare dates, this is why they are rare! Remember, the 1893-S is worth so much money because they made 77,000 of them, the 1881-S is cheap because they made 12.76 Million and TONS survived.

Don't sell these, you will live to regret it.

 

I am going to get those pictures up. Me and my dad have many extras... what about selling extras? Would you advise of that?

---edit for pictures

80-O
http://i44.tinypic.com/oksw7l.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/21b87yp.jpg

1881-O
http://i43.tinypic.com/nyab20.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/33a6of5.jpg

1882-O (not sure if strong or weak..)
http://i41.tinypic.com/11vhzrm.jpg
http://i40.tinypic.com/f53rsp.jpg

1899
http://i39.tinypic.com/b8jkmo.jpg
http://i44.tinypic.com/16gdbeo.jpg

1903
http://i39.tinypic.com/5dq5w5.jpg
http://i39.tinypic.com/6sguqb.jpg

1887-P Dates (i have two) (already put the -O away for today! )
http://i40.tinypic.com/k18cut.jpg
http://i41.tinypic.com/j789e8.jpg

 

Nice collection. In my opinion, I see no reason not to sell extras if you have multiples of the same date and mint. For example if I had three 1899-p's, I would probably choose the one with the best eye appeal and sell the other two. Thats just me though.