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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;johnmilton, post: 25369399, member: 101855&quot;]Expanding on @tibor’s excellent post, the Morgan Dollar was a compromise between the “free silver” movement and the gold standard advocates. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Coinage Act of 1873 ended the free coinage of silver. Before that companies and individuals could bring silver to the mint system and have it converted into coinage for free. The 1873 act reduced production of the silver coinage to an as needed basis. A few years after it was passed, the coinage act was politically labeled “The Crime of ‘73.” </p><p><br /></p><p>The free silver people wanted to return to the unrestricted coinage of silver. The trouble was there had been significant discoveries of silver, and there was a glut of it on the market. A silver dollar melted for way less than its face value. The fear was that the free coinage of silver would greatly increase the money supply which would result in massive inflation. </p><p><br /></p><p>The Bland-Allison Act, which authorized the Morgan Dollar, was a compromise. The government was obligated to buy two to four million ounces of silver a month and turn it into silver dollars. It was something short of “free silver,” but it gave the silver people something. </p><p><br /></p><p>The demand for new silver dollars was far lower than the production. As a result, the coins piled in government vaults and were not used. That’s why you have those almost 140 year old coins available in large quantities in Mint State condition.[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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