This attractively rim-toned 1888 Morgan silver dollar resides in a desirable 1990s-vintage NGC "Fatty" slab with an MS-64 designation. With their prices currently near 30 year lows, high-grade certified Morgan silver dollars represent a compelling numismatic option for the more adventurous tangible asset investor.
The Morgan silver dollar is legendary, standing alone as the United State's most iconic coin. It is undoubtedly the world's most widely collected coin, and with good reason. These extraordinary coins embody both the American love of hard currency and the lore of the Old West, where they circulated widely during an age of cowboys, prospectors and gunfighters. The Morgan silver dollar's classic design - the wreathed head of the personification of Liberty on the obverse and a majestic eagle with its wings proudly outstretched on the reverse - render it perhaps the most instantly recognizable coin on earth.
Not content simply to look pretty, the Morgan silver dollar is also a massive coin, with a diameter of 1.5 inches (38.1 mm) and a thickness of 0.0945 inches (2.4 mm). They are so large that they were nicknamed "cartwheels" because of their tendency to roll on their edge when casually tossed on a table or bar counter.
Morgan silver dollars weigh an impressive 0.8594 troy ounces (26.73 grams) and are composed of 90% silver and 10% copper. This gives every Morgan silver dollar a net silver content of 0.77344 troy ounces (24.06 grams) - more than 3/4 of a troy ounce.
The Morgan silver dollar was struck between 1878 and 1904, with a single encore year in 1921. The early years of its production overlapped with the final years of the U.S. trade dollar, a large silver coin specifically minted to compete with foreign silver trade dollars for commercial dominance in East Asia. At this point, every pre-1921 Morgan silver dollar is easily more than a century old, with the very oldest examples a stunning 140 years of age.
The origins of the famous silver dollar began with a piece of 1878 legislation known as the Bland-Allison Act. This law was a reaction to the Panic of 1873, a deep recession that prompted a public outcry to increase the money supply by legalizing the free coinage of silver (the U.S. was on a de facto gold standard at the time).
The Bland-Allison Act did not allow for the unlimited conversion of silver bullion into silver dollars. But the law did stipulate that the U.S. Treasury would purchase anywhere from $2 to $4 million worth of silver every year from mines in the Western U.S. and turn it into silver dollars. In conjunction with this, Bland-Allison authorized the issuance of silver certificates for the first time in U.S. history.
As a result, huge quantities of Morgan silver dollars were struck over the lifetime of the series. According to official U.S. Mint records, more than 650 million of the coins were struck (although over 270 million were later melted down). Most of these coins spent their lives in vault storage as backing for the silver certificates that were issued as part of the Bland-Allison Act. This helps explains why high quality Morgan silver dollars are readily available to collectors at such reasonable prices today.
Most of the high grade Morgan silver dollars available in the numismatic marketplace today have been third-party certified, or slabbed. This means the coins have been submitted to and evaluated by an independent grading company, which then encapsulates them in tamper-resistant, hard plastic cases. The two oldest and most respected third-party coin grading companies are PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) and NGC (Numismatic Guaranty Corporation).
PCGS & NGC MS63 Certified Morgan Silver Dollars For Sale on eBay
Third party certification transformed the coin industry almost overnight after its introduction in the mid 1980s. Before the development of slabbing, over-graded, harshly cleaned and other problem coins were common in the numismatic community. After the establishment of PCGS in 1986 and NGC in 1987, certified coins of the same grade and type began to be treated as semi-commodities. This meant that coin dealers trusted the grading services enough to buy and sell coins based primarily on their assigned grades. This tightened bid-ask spreads and streamlined transactions among coin professionals.
I want to point out that you will occasionally come across coins graded by services other than NGC or PCGS. Some of the more commonly encountered companies are PCI (Photo-Certified Coin Institute - now defunct), ICG (Independent Coin Grading) and ANACS (American Numismatic Association Certification Service). However, while these firms might have their niches, their slabs are generally less trusted and not as widely accepted in the numismatic world. Only PCGS or NGC slabs should be considered by those wishing to seriously invest in certified Morgan silver dollars.
Yet another third party grading service I want to mention is CAC (Coin Acceptance Corporation). This company is different from the other grading firms because it does not encapsulate raw (uncertified) coins. Instead, CAC exclusively accepts previously slabbed NGC and PCGS coins for evaluation. Coins that CAC believes are conservatively-graded receive a small, green oval sticker or "bean", while coins thought to be under-graded get an oval gold sticker. CAC does not sticker over-graded or average-graded coins.
Due to the fact that they are only applied to coins already graded by NGC or PCGS, CAC certifications can be thought of as a double guarantee. As a result, green CAC stickers are highly sought after by Morgan silver dollar investors and collectors, giving these coins a healthy price premium over non-CAC stickered examples. Gold CAC stickered coins are even rarer and bring commensurately higher prices.
The greatest change that standardized third-party grading brought to numismatics was the possibility of using coins as an investment vehicle. Collectors and investors could finally be assured that the slabbed coins they purchased were not only completely genuine, but also conformed to their stated grade. Morgan silver dollars, with their impressive size, iconic design and rich historical context, were perfectly matched to the groundbreaking development of third-party certification.
PCGS Morgan and Peace Dollar Index (1970 to 2018)
Photo Credit: PCGS
But a funny thing happened on the way to investment nirvana. As you can see from the graph above, high grade Morgan silver dollars are more or less the same price in 2018 as they were in 1996, 1994 and 1985. Now, there are two ways to interpret this situation. One is that certified Morgan silver dollars are terrible investments and no one should ever buy them in the hopes of making money. I believe this analysis is shallow and excessively facile.
Instead, I subscribe to another theory - that Morgan silver dollars, along with most slabbed U.S. coins, experienced a massive asset bubble in the late 1980s and then spent the next 30 years slowly working off those price and inventory excesses. This bubble hangover was also compounded by the general underperformance of tangible assets during that period against a backdrop of distracting stock market bubbles.
Making money in coins works much the same way that it does in any other asset class - buy low and sell high. And it is difficult to argue that prices for mint-state certified Morgan Silver Dollars aren't ridiculously low right now. In fact, the only other assets I can think of that currently trade for the same prices they did 30 years ago are all fellow 1980s bubble refugees - silver bullion, Japanese stocks and white diamonds. Slabbed Morgan silver dollars are sitting in very exclusive company.
You can currently buy common-date MS-63 certified Morgan silver dollars between $50 and $75 each. Superb MS-65 specimens start at just over $120. These are exceptionally low prices for such iconic coins in excellent states of preservation. Better yet, the prices are low enough that almost anybody can afford to invest.
PCGS & NGC MS65 Certified Morgan Silver Dollars For Sale on eBay
Let's talk for a moment about coin grading. According to the industry standard Sheldon Grading Scale, coins can be assigned a numerical grade ranging from MS-1 to MS-70. MS-1 represents an almost worn-smooth slug, with little detail remaining, while MS-70 is a theoretically perfect coin, with no wear or blemishes of any kind, even under magnification. Because most coins sent for third-party certification are higher grade specimens, the uncirculated grades - MS-60 to MS-70 - will be our primary focus.
Due to the fact that many Morgan silver dollars sat in canvas bags in vaults for most of their lives, there are a relatively high number of uncirculated specimens in existence. It is estimated that there may be as many as 50 million mint state Morgan silver dollars still around (excluding the high population 1921 date). This might seem like a massive number, but there are some mitigating factors.
First, if every one of the 125 million households in the United States decided they wanted to own a single uncirculated Morgan silver dollar, there wouldn't even be enough coins for half of them. And this ignores the possibility that overseas coin collectors or investors might want to own a tangible piece of the American Old West. As you can see, 50 million coins don't go nearly as far as you might think.
Second, although there are many surviving mint-state Morgan silver dollars, most of them are in lower MS-60 to MS-62 condition. This is because Morgan silver dollars were transported and stored in $1,000 face value canvas sacks, each of which weighed nearly 59 pounds (27 kilos). The silver dollars in these bags jingled and rattled against each other endlessly, leaving them heavily marked.
While technically uncirculated, MS-60 to MS-62 Morgan silver dollars are, with few exceptions, ugly coins. They may suffer from distracting bag marks, unattractive hairlines or obvious scuffs and rim nicks. MS-60 to MS-62 uncirculated coins generally lack eye appeal. And, as we will see, eye appeal is one of the most important attributes of an investment quality coin.
Once we step up to MS-63 coins, the situation changes dramatically. Suddenly we are presented with a coin that may still possess much of its original mint luster or have pleasing toning. It will still have visible marks, but they will not be nearly as visually disagreeable as those found on MS-60 to MS-62 specimens. MS-63 certified Morgan silver dollars can be beautiful, desirable coins.
In fact, if you are hunting for scarcer date or mint silver dollars and cannot afford them in MS-63 or higher grades, I recommend that you skip over acquiring MS-60 to MS-62 specimens entirely and drop down to AU-55 or AU-58 coins. Why? Because AU-55 and AU-58 coins are often extremely attractive, with great eye appeal. Their only drawback is that they are technically circulated, with a trace of wear on the highest points of the design.
Near the top end of the grading spectrum sit MS-65 certified Morgan silver dollars. These coins take all the good qualities of MS-63 examples and supercharge them. They have fewer hairlines or marks, and those they do have are not in obvious areas, like Liberty's cheek. They often possess superb original mint luster, which is sometimes referred to as "blast white". Slabbed MS-65 Morgan silver dollars are as good as it gets before you ascend to the truly exceptional (and exceptionally expensive) MS-66 grade and above.
For those who do not have the budget for MS-65 certified Morgan silver dollars but don't want to descend to MS-63 territory, I find that MS-64 examples are often a good compromise between eye appeal, condition, and pricing. Slabbed MS-64 Morgan silver dollars begin at around $65 for common date coins.
PCGS & NGC MS64 Certified Morgan Silver Dollars For Sale on eBay
Of course, there is more to certified Morgan silver dollars than just their grade - eye appeal is paramount. Coins with a superior strike, blazing original mint luster, rainbow toning or proof-like surfaces will look better than coins that do not have these attributes. As a result, NGC and PCGS slabbed Morgan silver dollars with exceptional eye appeal will always sell for more money than average coins, even those that are technically in the same condition. As the old numismatic saying goes, buy the coin, not the holder.
Highly coveted designations sometimes seen in certified Morgan silver dollars are proof-like (PL), deep proof-like (DPL) and deep mirror proof-like (DMPL). These are regular, business strike coins that randomly came from the mint with mirrored backgrounds and frosted devices, much like a true proof coin has. The contrast between the finish of the flat fields and the raised devices creates a highly desirable cameo effect.
The PL, DPL and DMPL designations awarded by PCGS and NGC are all highly coveted. The only differentiation between the three designations is one of magnitude, with PL having the least cameo effect and DMPL having the greatest cameo effect.
I feel compelled to give some words of warning to anyone intent on purchasing proof-like certified Morgan silver dollars. First, some less scrupulous sellers on auction sites (like eBay) characterize their coins as being some variation of proof-like in their listing title or description, without the coins actually having been designated as such by PCGS or NGC. If a coin doesn't have PL, DPL or DMPL clearly printed on the NGC or PCGS holder, then it isn't proof-like (although it may still be very attractive)!
And while proof-like Morgan silver dollars can be stunningly beautiful, lower grade uncirculated issues, including many MS-63 proof-like coins, often don't look that great. This is because the flat, mirrored fields of a proof-like silver dollar accentuate any marks on the coin, making it appear worse than its actual grade. Because of this, many dedicated Morgan silver dollar collectors only stick to higher grade uncirculated proof-like coins, which are considerably more expensive.
Pricing for proof-like certified Morgan silver dollars starts at just over $100 for common date MS-63 examples and escalates quickly for better date coins in higher conditions.
PCGS & NGC Proof-Like Certified Morgan Silver Dollars For Sale on eBay
I would like to note that serious silver dollar collectors and investors should avoid coins dated 1921 (unless you need that specific date to complete a set, of course). That is because the coins in this singular year were struck to excess. Over 86 million 1921 Morgan silver dollars were minted in aggregate at the Philadelphia, Denver and San Francisco mints, far in excess of any other year of production. In addition, because few of these coins circulated, mint state examples are quite common, with an estimated 10 to 15 million specimens still extant.
The sole exception to this advice would be the so-called "Zerbe Proof" or "Zerbe special strike" 1921 Morgan silver dollar. This was a custom strike, proof-like coin that was purportedly made to satisfy the request of the numismatist Farran Zerbe in the year 1921, as no official proofs were struck with that date. It is believed that only 150 to 200 of these specially struck coins were produced, making them quite rare today. Prices start in the mid thousands for low quality uncirculated Zerbe Proofs and rise quickly as condition improves.
Another factor to keep in mind when looking to collect or invest in certified Morgan silver dollars is toning. Toning is actually the early stages of tarnish on a coin, but it can be stunningly beautiful under certain circumstances. A toned coin can exhibit a rainbow of colors, including steel blues, golden oranges, delicate violets and sea greens, among others.
However, a toned coin can also display a palette of distinctly undesirable shades, such as mottled browns, spotty blacks or dull grays. Morgan silver dollars that are attractively toned possess tremendous eye appeal, boosting their value over non-toned coins of the same grade significantly. Of course, by the same token an ugly or unattractively toned specimen will usually sell for a discount compared to an un-toned coin.
Because of the premium that attractively toned coins can merit, some less-than-honest people have attempted to artificially tone silver dollars in their possession before reselling them. Therefore, I recommend that anyone looking to collect or invest in toned Morgan silver dollars stick exclusively to coins that have been certified by NGC or PCGS. These third-party grading services will refuse to certify any coin that they deem to have been artificially toned or otherwise doctored.
Pricing for toned certified Morgan silver dollars varies considerably depending on the eye appeal of the individual coin, but attractive MS-63 specimens can be found in the $100 to $250 range. Better date or higher grade coins are more expensive, as are examples with exceptionally beautiful toning.
PCGS & NGC Certified Toned Morgan Silver Dollars For Sale on eBay
Over the four-odd decades that the series was in existence, Morgan silver dollars were struck at five different U.S. Mint facilities - Philadelphia (abbreviated "P"), San Francisco (S), New Orleans (O), Carson City (CC) and Denver (D). The mintmark on a Morgan silver dollar can be found on the reverse of the coin, just underneath the center of the wreath. Coins from each of these different mints have their own characteristics, which collectors and investors should familiarize themselves with.
For example, Philadelphia Morgan silver dollars tend to have healthy mintages and be well-struck, allowing specimens to be acquired at reasonable prices by those interested in high grade mint-state pieces. Coins from the Philadelphia mint do not display any mintmark, unlike coins issued by other mints. Therefore, a silver dollar with no mintmark is always a Philadelphia issue.
The Denver Mint was only opened in 1906, after the initial run of Morgan silver dollars had ended. As a result, the Denver Mint only produced Morgan silver dollars in a single year, 1921. Because these coins are exceedingly common, I would not recommend them for the aspiring collector of certified Morgan silver dollars.
San Francisco Mint coins are usually well-struck, especially the early dates in the series. They were also minted in large quantities to satisfy the considerable demand for hard coinage that existed in the late 19th century American West. This makes San Francisco issues some of the most readily available high grade certified Morgan silver dollars - a true boon to modern day collectors. The 1881-S, in particular, is probably the most common San Francisco Morgan silver dollar in uncirculated condition, with perhaps a million mint-state examples still around.
New Orleans mintmarked coins are much more of a challenge than Philadelphia or San Francisco ones. While mintages were generally ample, coins issued by the New Orleans Mint are often weakly struck, with soft features on the eagle and less detail overall. Therefore, anytime you find an exceptional New Orleans Morgan silver dollar at a reasonable price, it is an opportunity not to be missed.
Carson City Morgan silver dollars are the rarest and most challenging of the mints to collect. The Carson City Mint was established in order to convert bullion mined from Nevada's nearby Comstock Lode into coinage. Carson City only produced coins between 1870 and 1893, and only did so in modest quantities. Because of the low mintages of these issues and their extreme popularity among collectors, Carson City Morgan silver dollars are among the most expensive and desirable coins of the entire series.
PCGS & NGC Certified Carson City Morgan Silver Dollars For Sale on eBay
Knowledge is the greatest ally of anyone looking to purchase, collect or invest in old coins. Therefore, I recommend that the connoisseur of certified Morgan silver dollars purchase a copy of Q. David Bowers' seminal work on this very popular coin titled "A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars". This authoritative book not only provides an extensive history of the famous coin, but also gives an invaluable year-by-year analysis of every date and mint struck.
Q. David Bowers' A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars
Morgan silver dollars are one of the most iconic coin series ever created. And, when purchased in uncirculated condition, they are also one of the most undervalued coins in the world today, with prices hovering around mid 1980s levels! NGC and PCGS certified Morgan silver dollars in MS-63 or higher grades are a great way for coin collectors or alternative asset investors to buy these beautiful and historic coins with confidence.
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