Judging by the advertisements in numismatic publications as well as those for the general public on TV and the internet, the Morgan dollar is the most popular coin in America. Yet this coin arrived almost as an accident and its designs were originally meant for other denominations. It all began in the dark days of the American Civil War.
Until late in 1861 the Northern public thought that the war would be won within a few months, despite some temporary setbacks. Only when the realization came that there would be a long and bloody conflict did the public begin to hoard the precious metal coinage. By June 1862 gold and silver coins had vanished from the marketplace, much of it exported to Canada and Central America, though hoarding was also in play.
The Civil War was financed on both sides of the conflict by paper money and even though the North won, its paper continued to fluctuate in value with respect to silver and gold. Except for the West coast, gold and silver did not circulate and the public had to make do with the hated paper money, some of which (the “shinplasters”) had values as low as 3 cents.
Beginning in 1859 there were great amounts of silver mined in the West but from 1861 to 1868 much of this was sent to Europe to help pay off war-time debts. In 1868 a silver surplus
