us early paper money price guide Bargains
Our Featured Money Collecting ArticleHistory of the Morgan Silver Dollar
By Jay Villaverde
Morgan silver dollarsr were minted in an attempt to keep the price of silver stabilized after an enormous silver strike in Colorado caused a sudden crash in the price of silver. This dollar was minted from 1878 through 1904, then stopped because silver suddenly increased in price, and then minted for one more year in 1921.
In addition, it was minted in several locations: Carson City, Denver, San Francisco, New Orleans, and Philadelphia; only Denver and Philadelphia are mint locations today. The value of a Morgan silver dollar depends on its year, the mint that created it, and the quality of its preservation.
Morgan silver dollars have the head of Lady Liberty on the front and a wing-spread eagle holding arrows and an olive branch on the back; you'll recognize the reverse as being very similar to that of a quarter. This coin is the first of our minted coins to use the slogan E Pluribus Unum. It's a large coin, about the same size as a half-dollar in use today or just a little bigger, and it has a silver fineness of .900, or 90% silver, so silver content by weight is just over 24 grams. The remaining metal is copper.
Morgan silver dollars, unlike many of the coins minted over a hundred years ago, have a top grade of DMPL, or Deep Mirror Proof Like; these coins have extremely heavily frosted images and devices, so that these parts show up matte, while the background is polished silver. Early Morgan silver dollars are more likely to follow this format than later ones, making the later DMPL dollars worth more.
The other grades for this dollar are Proof, Uncirculated, Good, Fair, and Poor. The degree of wear determines what level the coin is at. A sealed, perfect coin that has never been touched is a Proof; a perfect or near-perfect coin that has been used is Uncirculated; a near-perfect coin with a couple of flaws is Good; a coin that has seen some wear is Fair; and a coin that is very worn, with the edges worn smooth, is Poor, the lowest grade.
Of these grades, the Poor Morgan silver dollars are generally worth very little, though there are a few exceptions. Look also for the mint mark, a dash and letter next to the year of minting. Mint marks may be S (San Francisco), P (Philadelphia), O (New Orleans), D (Denver) and CC (Carson City). Of these, the Carson City coins tend to be worth the most.
There are also several short runs that are worth significantly more due to their rareness: 1889-CC, 1893-S, and1895 Proof are the most valuable by far. The last of these in theory only had 880 coins released into circulation, and probably fewer exist today; its value is calculated to be about $66,000. The Proof coin should not have a mintmark; attempts to forge it have been made by filing away the proofmark on another Morgan dollar released that year, but a coin expert should be able to spot this immediately.
For a coin collector, a Morgan silver dollar is a must-have: its history, its beauty, and its often low cost all make this an attractive coin for starting, or adding to, your collection.
About The Author
Jay Villaverde is the owner of http://www.MorganSilverDollarStore.net A site dedicated to preserving the beauty and history of the Morgan Silver Dollar. If you're looking to start or add to your coin collection, this is a great coin to obtain and this is a great place to get them.
More Money & Coin Collecting News
Make sure to store your coins in a very safe place. You've worked so hard to own your diversified collection of gold coins. The last thing you want to happen is lose your collection due to fire, theft, or some other unforeseen issue. Make sure to store your coins in a very safe place so you can sleep sound at night knowing your assets are protected. I highly recommend a safe deposit box at your local bank. Also, there are third party safe houses that specialize in storing gold and precious metals. Taking the diversification theme to the next level, why not spread your collection (once it gets big enough to warrant doing so) among multiple safe deposit boxes and locations. You'll sleep better and night knowing your collection is safe and sound through a diversified storage strategy!
Buy silver dollars for a great investment.
Ebay has something great going for it: You can find a lot of great lower priced coins. What if you want to buy just one 1/10 gold bullion fractional coin. With the price of gold around $1000 per ounce, there is definitely a shortage of gold coins these days. If you go to your local shop, you might not be able to find what you want. I personally cannot find fractional Krugerrands anymore. If I go to a larger full service dealer, they're going to want a larger purchase. So what am I supposed to do if I want to make a small purchase and not have to buy several ounces of $1000 gold at a time? Ebay is a great solution. Ebay always has sellers who carry smaller fractional coins and specialize in smaller transactions. With low overhead, Ebay sellers can afford to specialize in small gold and silver coins that may not make economic sense for larger dealers. If you are a small time gold investor (or maybe a large time gold investor who wants to pick up a few smaller fractional coins), Ebay is the leader.
Buy commemorative australian silver kangaroo dollars for a great investment.
Some 1885 carson city morgan silver dollars Stories
Jackson, Tennessee Hoard of Gold Coins at Recent Auction?
Sun, 05 Oct 2008 04:16:00 +0000
By Doug Winter
With little fanfare, an important group of half eagles and eagles were sold at the recent Heritage Long Beach auction. I was...
This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
4. What was the original issue price of the 1983-S Proof Olympic dollar?
buy gold coins
silver half dollars
2008 silver dollars
posted by Silver Dollar @ 12:46 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home