TRIVIA: The Three Reverses of the 1878 Morgan Dollars Minted at Philadelphia

Discussion in 'Coin Chat' started by Clinker, Oct 11, 2011.

  1. Clinker

    Clinker Coin Collector

    If you don't quite understand the differences between the three reverse designs on the 1878 Peace Dollar, maybe this will help:
     
    1878 REVERSE DESIGN 1:
     
    8 Tail Feathers
    Parallel Edges on the Arrow Feathers (PAF)
    "A" in AMERICA Touches Wing
    Beak is Straight
    Concaved Eagle's Breast
    Narrow Rim
    (coinpage.com photo)
     
    http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-3912.html
     
    Part way through 1878 a decision was made to alter the reverse design reducing the number of tail feathers to seven. Several thousands of 1878 Morgan Dollars were not yet released for circulation so another decision was made. The mint overstruck thousands of the 8 tail feather Morgans with a 7 tail feather image so everything identifying Design 1 is true for the 7 over 8 tail feathers Morgan Dollar reverse design.
     
    1878 7 OVER 8 TAIL FEATHERS DESIGN 1:
     
    (coinpage.com photo)
     
    http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-1333.html
     
    Reverse Design 1 is also on the first few thousand 7 tail feather Morgan Dollars produced at Philadelphia.
     
    Later on in 1878 reverse Design 2 was created. Everything is the same as Design 1 except the eagle now has a crooked beak as it should have.
     
    (coinpage.com photo)
     
    http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-2779.html
     
    Still later Design 3 was created (aka 1879 reverse). The changes include the following:
     
    7 Tail Feathers
    Tapered (slanted) Arrow Feathers (SAF)
    Rounded (convexed) Eagle's Breast
    "A" in AMERICA Doesn't Touch Wing
    Wide Rim
     
    I couldn't find a photo of reverse Design 3 on an 1878 Morgan Dollar so, in order for you to see Design 3, here's a photo of the reverse of an 1879 Morgan Dollar (coinpage photo):
     
    http://www.coinpage.com/coin-image-3652.html
     
    One other thing you should know. Morgan exercized his Artistic License on the Dollar's reverse by designing the motto using capital letters only on "I" and "G" of "In God we trust."
     
    Did you know?
     
    Clinker
     
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