Wednesday, March 15, 2006

Morgan Silver Dollar Coin

One of the most popular coins of the century is the Morgan silver dollar coin. This is a US silver coin that was specifically minted from 1878 to 1904 and also in 1921 also. Although there are heaps of them they are a limited mintage and there are no more being minted.

The supply is not inexhaustible therefore.

It was named after the designer, George T Morgan who designed both the obverse and the reverse of the coin

The Morgan silver dollar coin has a silver content of .900 which is 0.77344 troy ounces (24.057 grams) of silver per coin.

Specifications are:
Diameter: 38.1 millimeters
Weight: 26.73 grams
Composition: .900 silver, .100 copper
Net weight: .77344 ounce pure silver
In 1878 the US government instituted the Bland-Allison Act to force the mintage of millions of silver dollars. The mintage was far in excess of what was required resulting in the excess silver dollars accumulating in treasury vaults. As a result of these many mint and near mint silver coins with mint marks and mint dates now obtainable. Some are rarities and some are common and many people specialize in collecting the Morgan silver dollar coin as a result.
In 1918 the Pittman Act ordered that massive quantities of silver coins me melted down into bars and 270 million Morgans were melted down. As a result there are some very rare dates which are sought after by collectors. It has been estimated that only 17 percent of all Morgans minted exist today. Sometimes small caches are found in private collections and they always attract much interest and sell for high prices. A further melting down occurred in the 1960s due to rising silver prices.
There are many stories about the Morgan silver dollar coin and it is one of the collectors favorite coins

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