Morgan Silver Dollar dated 1882 and minted at the San Francisco branch of the US Mint.
The mintage of the 1882-S is high so the coin is easy to find and can often be purchased at a reasonable price.
Some of the 1882-O coins are O-over-S restrikes (or overmintmarks if you prefer).
The coin is named after the designer, George T. Morgan, who at the time was United States Mint Assistant Engraver.
Mint marks can be found above the DO in DOLLAR. If no mint mark is present then the mint is Philadelphia, but in 1882 it may also be CC (Carson City), S (San Francisco) or O (New Orleans).
The Obverse shows an image of Liberty, designed by George T Morgan.
The edge is reeded (milled).
The Reverse shows an eagle holding arrows and an olive branch, also designed by George T Morgan.
Coin shown graded as MS60.
Image credit: Mountain View Coins
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Mintage: 9,250,000 (may include coins in sets)
Minted at US Mint - San Francisco.
In USA: US President is Chester A. Arthur (R-New York). There was no Vice-President. The first Labor Day parade is held in New York City. Thomas Edison does street lighting in America, lighting one square mile of lower Manhattan and later builds the first string of Christmas lights. Standard Oil of New Jersey is formed, renamed to Exxon in 1972. Jesse James was shot by a fellow outlaw so as to claim the reward, while Morgan Earp is killed by outlaws while playing billiards in Tombstone.
The Morgan Dollar was a USA silver coin minted from 1878 to 1904 and then again in 1921. It had a currency value of one US dollar. In 2021, a .999 Silver Morgan Dollar was released to mark the 100th anniversary of the last Morgan Dollar.
The name Morgan derives from the designer George T. Morgan (1845-1925). Morgan was originally from Birmingham, England, where he worked with William Wyon but moved to America in 1876 to become the assistant engraver at the US Mint. The image of Liberty was modelled by a Philadelphia school teacher named Anna Willess Williams.
Morgan later became Chief Engraver of the U.S.Mint from 1917 until 1925 and he is probably best known for the Morgan Dollar, although he designed many other coins too. You can see a small 'M' on the truncation of the neck.
The Morgan Dollar was brought about due to the Bland–Allison Act of 1878 and during the early days the coin was often referred to as the Bland Dollar (after Richard P. Bland who introduced the Bill), although some called it the buzzard dollar as they disliked the image of the eagle.
Specifications
- Diameter: 38.1 mm
- Thickness: 2.4 mm
- Weight: 26.73 g
- Edge: Reeded
- Silver Content: 90% (Copper 10%)
- Philadelphia (No mint mark, although modern coins use 'P')
- New Orleans (Mint mark = 'O')
- San Francisco (Mint mark = 'S')
- Carson City (Mint mark = 'CC')
- Denver (in 1921 only: Mint mark = 'D')
The Morgan Dollar remains a popular coin with collectors and investors.
We have a few articles on Morgan Dollars:
The United States mints many famous coins in gold, silver and lesser metals. The USA has several Mints, such as Philadelphia, San Francisco, West Point (NY) and Denver.
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