Morgan Silver Coins
Want to buy Morgan silver coins? Read on for facts and info on the Morgan Dollar and find out about the value of a Morgan silver coin…
Morgan silver coins are one of the most popular silver dollar coins from the United States. The first Morgan silver coin was minted in 1878 and they continued to be minted until 1904. After a break of about 17 years Morgan silver coins were once again minted in 1921.
Over the years these coins have acquired collectorship status. The coins are named after the man who is credited for designing the image that it bears. George T. Morgan was the man who designed the obverse as well as the reverse sides of the coin and it is in his honor that the coins have been named. When observed carefully you will also be able to find his monogram printed close to the neck of the liberty on the obverse side. The coin was officially recognized under the Bland Allison act of 1878. It is believed to have a fineness of .900 with a total silver content of 0.77344 troy ounces.
History of Morgan Silver Coins
Recorded as being one of the greatest strikes in silver in the history of the United States the discovery of the Comstock Lode occurred in Nevada during the late 1850s. The discovery of this strike caused the price of silver to go down on a global level. After the Bland Allison act was put into place by the Congress in 1878 the Treasury Department was required to purchase the silver in large quantity and then strike it in order for them to serve as currency.
The Morgan silver dollar was the first silver coin to be minted and officially used as American currency after the seated liberty Dollar which was minted in 1873. During this time another coin which is popularly known as the trade Dollar was also minted. However this coin was only meant to be used in the Orient region. The minting of more than silver coins continued up till 1904 and up to this time the circulation was quite high and there was no silver bullion in competition. In 1918 the Congress passed the Pittman act under which more than 270 million coins were to be melted so as to serve as silver content. It was following this act that the coinage of the Morgan Dollar was resumed in 1921. However these were replaced by the peace Dollar which acquired the standard issue status. In the following years many Morgan silver dollars were melted primarily because of the rising prices of silver.
In the early 1970s large caches of Morgan dollars that had been minted at the Carson City mint were discovered and then sold to opportunist coin collectors from all around the world by the federal government. A large quantity of these dollars were amongst the uncirculated variety which were known as the Gen. services administration coins. This variety comes in black plastic holders that were initially created for the silver proof. Today the Morgan silver coins are highly sought after by coin collectors from all over the world.