What are Morgan Dollars?
In 1878, the United States of America minted a type of coin called the Morgan Silver Dollar.The minting of this coin continued through 1904 and ceased until 1921 where it was brought back again for one more year. George T. Morgan, a die engraver, designed the coin, and thus, the Morgan Silver Dollar came into being. Morgan actually designed several coins for the U.S. and became the Unites States’ seventh Chief Engraver.However, the silver dollar coins that he designed are the most famous of his accomplishments in that area.
The coin is made of silver in excess of twenty four grams per coin.The head of the coin, or obverse, depicts Lady Liberty in profile and has the date stamped on the bottom.The tail side of the coin, or reverse, shows an eagle holding arrows and an olive branch and has the denomination stamped at the bottom.The silver dollar was minted in order to act as a single dollar.However, as silver prices increased, many of the Morgan silver dollars were melted for its silver content, thus increasing its value from one dollar to whatever the silver market was bearing at the time.
Currently the Morgan silver dollar is a collectable item and some are extremely rare.Coin collectors vie for Morgan silver dollars, especially the ones minted in years where there was not an abundance of the coin. The year 1895 is an especially lucrative year for coin collectors and anyone with a coin from this year has a rare find and should evaluate the worth of it carefully.
Today, Morgan silver dollars can be found in coin collections all over the world and are bought and sold every day.While the silver value of the coin is lucrative with rising silver prices, there is an addition value with the rarity of the coin that increases its worth.Antique shops and coin collecting shops are ideal places to find Morgan silver dollars.In addition, online auctions and advertisements for private collections are another ideal source for finding these treasures.
Often you will find single Morgan silver dollars for sale starting at anywhere from ten dollars and increasing in price from there. For the serious collector, however, you may want to look into acquiring private complete collections. This can be an expensive prospect, though, as collections involving multiple coins can cost thousands of dollars and be quite difficult to find.
