Reply to Thread

Message:: [QUOTE="johnmilton, post: 25702823, member: 101855"]The U.S. Mint System struck millions of these coins. They existed only because of the politics. They were the product of a political compromise. The government agreed to buy so silver each month and strike it into silver dollars. That supported the price of silver to a degree, but there was so much of it available at the time, that the prices remianed low. The alternative would have been the "free coinage" of silver which would have had the government converting silver depostied at the mints turned into silver dollars for free. That would have resulted in a significant increase in the money supply, massive inflation and the devaluation of the U.S. dollar. A realitively small number of people, mostly in the western states, wanted them. Therefore they piled up in government vaults, sealed in cloth bags away from air and light. A few of the coins toned, especially those that were in contact with the bags, but most of them didn't. Instead they remained as bright as they day they were minted. Most of the Mint State Morgan Dollars have not been dipped. They never had a chance to get a lot of toning.[/QUOTE]