Coins & Paper Money -> Coins: US -> Dollars
An 1896 silver dollar is one of the Morgan dollars that were minted from 1868 to 1904, and then later again in 1921. The image on these coins was designed by George T. Morgan, and while his dollar is a collector favorite today, easily found in online auctions, they were virtually ignored when they were created.
By 1873, the American collar coin was discontinued. Paper money was favored over coins. So when the large, Morgan dollar came onto the scene in 1878, few people were interested in using them. After the Comstock lode was discovered in Nevada, America’s richest silver strike to date, it was necessary to use that silver to keep Nevada’s economy from collapsing. Pressure was put on the government to make a silver dollar, so the US Treasury, despite the veto by President Rutherford B. Hayes, purchased a few million dollars worth of the silver for coinmaking. Some of that silver was used in the 1896 silver dollars, as well as other dollars from that era.
Morgan, a native of England, was brought over to be an engraver for the director of the Philadelphia Mint. Morgan’s design competed with the design by the normal designer and Chief Engraver, William Barger. Morgan’s coin was chosen, with its head of Lady Liberty on the front and a small eagle on the back. Soon after, Morgan became Chief Engraver and remained there for over 40 years, then became Chief Engraver for the United States Mint in his 70s. The 1896 silver dollar as well as all Morgan dollars produced, bear the distinction of being the only American coin Morgan ever designed.
Less than two weeks after Congress authorized the minting, the first Morgan dollars were struck, on March 11, 1878. Philadelphia produced most of the Morgan dollars, but a small mint in Carson City near the silver Comstock lode produced some dollars of that era. Though that mint closed in 1893, after the mine was essentially emptied of silver. The 1896 silver dollars was one of the 500 million Morgan dollars minted between 1878 and 1904. Despite their numbers, the coins weren’t popular with consumers. There were many used coins, in fact, that in 1918, over 270 million were melted to provide Great Britain with silver during the war. Morgan dollars were produced again in 1921, to the tune of 86 million, but stopped the following year so that the Peace dollar, which became popular, could be produced to commemorate the end of World War I.
Millions more Morgan dollars, including the 1896 silver dollar, were melted down for their silver content in the following years. In fact, it wasn’t until 1972, when the General Services Administration auctioned 2.9 million Morgan dollars, the rare ones produced by the Carson City mint that closed in 1893, that the Morgan dollar interested collectors at all. Then LaVere Redfield, a stock investor who had hoarded 400 bags of Morgan dollars, died in 1974 and his 11 tons of Morgan dollars were auctioned for $7.3 million dollars, giving the Morgan dollar real status in the coin world.
Originally posted 2008-10-14 14:00:58. Republished by Blog Post Promoter
Related Posts -
Silver Bullion Coins Coins & Paper Money -> Bullion -> Silver People buy silver bullion coins for a few different reasons. Some buy them because of the precious metal content as an investment and buffer against inflation. Some people buy them because they fear that one day our popular currency will become worthless,...... -
1902 Barber Dime Money -> Dimes -> Barber-1892-1916 The value of a 1902 Barber dime varies, depending mostly on the condition of the dime. While the face value may be only 10 cents, they’re often worth several dollars—sometimes hundreds of dollars. The best way to determine the value of your Barber dime is...... -
Wheat Penny Money -> Small-Cents -> Lincoln-Wheat-1909-1958 Probably one of the easiest coins to acquire for a coin collection is the wheat penny. This coin was a United States penny minted from 1909 to 1958. The coin goes by many names, including the Lincoln Wheat Cent and Wheatie, and was worth 1...... -
Coin Collecting 101 Coin collecting is an industry that has grown to encompass billions of dollars in sales. The earliest hobby of coin collecting is capable of being traced as far back as 1300 AD, which is when an Italian scholar known by the name of Fracesco Petrarca began to save coins and...... -
Morgan Silver Dollar Coin Collecting -> US Coins -> Dollar Coins -> Morgan (1878-1921): 1878-1921, 1885-93, 1894-98, 1899-1904, 1921 The Morgan Silver Dollar is considered by many to be one of the most valuable US coins that you can collect. It’s history ranges from 1878 to 1904, and during its run, it was......
Related Websites -
One Million Dollars The Writer's Coin posited an interesting thought experiment: What would you do with $1,000,000 (after taxes)? It's an interesting idea, as most of us will save for much of our lives to get somewhere near that amount by the time we retire. (Especially adjusting for inflation, since one million now...... -
What Happens When Demand for US Debt Dries Up? Over a year ago, I wrote about China threatening to stop buying US Treasuries. According to an article in the New York Times, it now looks like China is losing it's appetite for US debt : In the last five years, China has spent as much as one-seventh of its...... -
Abercrombie & Fitch and Beyonce in "Fierce" Fragrance War Beyonce Knowles and the clothing company Abercrombie & Fitch are locking horns in a war over the name of a fragrance. The pop star sensation Beyonce Knowles and the teenaged clothing giant known as Abercrombie & Fitch are currently going to war over who is more "fierce". In a federal...... -
Proven Ways How to Make 400 Dollars Fast Looking for quick ways how to make 400 dollars fast online? There are several ways how to make 400 dollars fast online that work great and do not require that much effort on your behalf whatsoever! All you have to do is be prepared to try something new and exciting...... -
Your Tax Dollars At Work - More Pork, Less Bridges. Flipping through Sunday's newspaper I came across a little blurb about how some of our tax dollars are being spent. While there had been some big talk lately in Congress about stopping the funding of "pork" projects in order to fix our nation's infrastructure due to the bridge collapse in......





![[Perth Mint Lunar Series Gold Dragon 1 Ounce coin] [Perth Mint Lunar Series Gold Dragon 1 Ounce coin]](http://www.livingoffdividends.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/03/perth_mint_lunar_series_gold_dragon.jpg)
