Morgan Dollar Mint Mark Fun

Discussion in 'US Coins Forum' started by bradgator2, May 15, 2021.

  1. bradgator2

    bradgator2 Well-Known Member

    I recently purchased an 1899 Morgan Dollar with the “micro” New Orleans mint mark, which is commonly listed as one of the major varieties. As I placed it into the correct location in my Morgan collection it got me thinking about the extreme variations in the mint marks of my Morgan Dollars.

    For a little history, here are some condensed notes from David Bowers book on Morgans: The Engraving Dept kept a supply of letter punches for use in adding mintmarks. There were different sizes for different diameter coins. It was usually the job of the assistant engraver to add the mintmark. The use of punches was very casual. Sometimes large punches were correctly used, sometimes medium punches were used, and sometimes micro punches were used. Some were short and wide, while others were tall and thin. In 1878, two small Cs were used. After 1879, it was two large Cs. In 1884, the elliptical O was replaced with a round O. The engraver eyeballed the position. The punch was held by hand. This led to wide variations in both position and tilt of the mintmark. In 1895, the S mintmark was first punch horizontally. IN 1882, an O mintmark was placed over the top of an S mintmark.

    So I offer you some pictures of actual coins from my collection, but only of the mintmark. First, the “normal” ones:

    The classic no mintmark from Philly:
    IMG_9565.jpg
    Carson City:
    IMG_9566.jpg
    New Orleans:
    IMG_9567.jpg
    San Francisco. Interestingly, all my S mintmarks are a "mess":
    IMG_9568.jpg

    And I guess, we have to include Denver:
    IMG_9569.jpg

    Now... some hiccups:

    1879 Large CC over small CC (one of only 2 Morgans with a detailed grade):
    IMG_9570.jpg

    The 82 O/S mentioned above:
    IMG_9571.jpg

    1888 S repunched over another S:
    IMG_9572.jpg

    1900 O placed over a CC. I'd love a better coin. But you can make out the lower point of the 2nd C:
    IMG_9575.jpg

    A couple more... oops, have to be in the next post:
     
    Last edited: May 15, 2021
  2. Avatar

    Guest User Guest



    to hide this ad.
  3. bradgator2

    bradgator2 Well-Known Member

    Two examples of some micro mintmarks:

    1899 O: Normal (with a fun die crack) vs Micro
    1899 O.jpg

    1903 S Normal vs Micro:
    1903 s.jpg

    Anyone else have any fun ones to add?
     
    Publius2, LakeEffect, Scott J and 2 others like this.
  4. bradgator2

    bradgator2 Well-Known Member

    Until I just re-read Bowers just now, I didnt realize the 78 was a small CC and all the others are large. Here is a comparison:

    CC.jpg
     
    Publius2, LakeEffect, Scott J and 2 others like this.
  5. Antonius Britannia

    Antonius Britannia Well-Known Member

    Great examples! Interesting to note some of the variations in mint marks
     
    bradgator2 likes this.
  6. bradgator2

    bradgator2 Well-Known Member

    I only have a handful of duplicate coins. Two of those are an additional 1880 S. Mainly because you can get some draw dropping gem coins for very reasonable prices. Here are the mint marks for those 3:

    1880 S.jpg
     
Draft saved Draft deleted

Share This Page