The Beginning of The Morgan Dollar

AT THE present time the Morgan dollar of 1878–1921 is one of the most popular coins of the United States. This was not true as late as the 1960s but good references, such as those by Van Allen and Mallis, have changed all of this. Prior to 1970 a few rare dates were of interest but otherwise collectors focused on other series, such as the Lincoln cent.

Silver dollars were struck as early as 1794, but the coinage was halted in 1804 as too many of the coins were going to the Orient for luxury goods and did not return. In the 1830s Mint Director Robert M. Patterson thought the time was right for a resumption of dollar coinage and by 1840 full-scale striking had begun. The new coinage was primarily kept for bank reserves but also used in commerce.

The new dollar coinage, however, came crashing to earth in the late 1840s as gold discoveries in California and Australia drove up the price of silver. Bullion dealers bought up dollars and other silver coins and shipped them to Europe at a good profit. By 1850 the American silver dollar had ceased to circulate and would not do so again until 1878.

In 1853 a revision of the coinage laws permitted the silver dollar to be struck from private bullion brought to the mints, although minor silver coins were now struck only on government account. Dollars continued to be struck in the