Seated Dollars
Since I completed my date set of Morgan Dollars (scroll down to see them), I've been drawn to the Seated Dollar series. I have no illusions of being able to complete a set (too much money and very hard to find!), but I'm excited to try. The 8 Seated Dollar coins below are in various conditions, and all except for the 1840 and 1843 appear to have been cleaned at some time, though not harshly. And the 1872 is "holed," meaning someone drilled a hole though it, probably to hang it as a pendant around their neck.
8/5/12-The 1840 came back graded VF20 by PCGS, and the 1843 F15 by PCGS. Both seem to be fair grades to me.
03/09/13-I may send one or both of these out
Trade Dollars
This series of Silver Dollars was made to facilitate trade with the Far East. These coins contained a bit more silver than a regular dollar, and were marked "420 grains .900 fine" to note the increase. Many of these coins were later stamped by merchants with Oriental characters, which were called "chop marks." Chop marks were the merchant's way of marking the coin as valid for transactions. The six examples I own have no chop marks. The 1874 has great toning but was likely cleaned a long time ago; the1874-S is uncirculated but has been cleaned at some point in its history, the 1876 and 1876-S are both beautiful, premium quality original coins that I think would grade XF45 to AU50, the 1877-S is just a beautiful high AU coin with lots of mint luster, and the 1878-S is graded XF40 by PCGS.
8/5/12-The 1876 came back graded XF40 by PCGS.
Morgan Dollars (Early Dates) 1878-1894
Of interest (to me, anyway!) were the 1878 varieties from the Philadelpia Mint, of which I have all 4 (1878 concave breast, 1878 convex breast, 1878 8 Tail feathers-this coin is a true Proof-Like example {I actually think it's more of a Deep Mirror Proof-Like example, but PCGS disagreed} with highly reflective fields!, and the 1878 7/8 Tailfeathers-a very nice uncirculated coin graded by PCGS as MS61). The 8 Tailfeathers coin is a rather interesting variety, called VAM-23. It features an obverse that has very heavy doubling of Liberty's lips. It's known as "Crazy Lips," and is a desirable coin to variety collectors. You might also notice that I have three 1884-dated coins: I chose to add a nice uncirculated "CC" to my set (just to say I have one!), and I recently acquired a better grade 1884-S. The 1884-S is a condition rarity, meaning it's hard to find in higher grades. I'm excited because the coin has very little wear on it (I sent it in to PCGS for "official" 3rd party grading, and it was given an AU-53 grade) and the surfaces look as if they have some mirroring on them. This coin is premium quality for the grade it received. My favorite Morgan is also contained in this group: The 1888-O "Hot Lips" Double-Die Obverse. It received a grade of AU50 from PCGS.
As of July 15th, 2009, my year set of Morgans is officially complete! I found the last coin, an 1893-P, after looking long and hard. Picture might look a bit funny because of the light it was taken in...in any case, the Morgan Dollar is arguably one of the most beautifully designed U.S. coins I've seen, hence my collecting interest. And it's truly stunning in high grades!
10/14/10-I just added this positively STUNNING Deep-Mirror Prooflike 1878 (8 TF) coin to my set. I've sent it off to PCGS for grading and attribution. I'm hoping for a grade of MS63 DMPL, but it has great eye appeal, so who knows? It's the third coin pictured in this group.
4/05/11-Got the above coin back some time ago-It received a grade of MS63+ PL (Proof-Like). I still feel it's a DMPL, but the plus grade is good, so I'll leave it at that. In PL for the VAM 23, my coin is the ONLY one to receive a 63+ grade, and only TWO are graded higher than it. Pretty cool!
11/29/10-My very generous Morgan dollar collector uncle gave me another coin when we were out visiting him over the Thanksgiving holiday. It's an 1880-S Morgan, graded PCGS MS66! It's the 7th coin pictured below.
8/3/11-I sent out my 1884-CC to get it holdered-it graded MS63 by PCGS.
12/23/11-I received a very nice gift from a friend of mine-a GSA 1885-CC-for Christmas. It is a stunning coin, which graded MS66 when I sent it out to NGC. Check it out in the photos below-it's truly a beauty!
2/10/12-I love the 1888-O "Hot Lips" Morgan. I never thought I'd find a nicer one than the XF-45 one I've had, but I got lucky and found a nice AU example today. I look forward to sending it out for grading this Summer!
(update) Sent the "Hot Lips" out and got an AU50 grade from PCGS. I'd hoped it would be a 55 or so, but a 50 is decent-still an improvement over my last one!
Morgan Dollars (Later Dates 1895-1921)
The most significant coin in this group has to be the first one, the 1895-O. These are rare to find in any condition, as only 450,000 were minted. I came across this nice about uncirculated 1895-O in October, and I HAD to add it to my collection. It replaced a coin that graded about Fine, so this one was quite the upgrade for me ! Morgan Dollar mintage was stopped after 1904, and resumed briefly in 1921, ending the series.
Peace Dollars
I just can't get into collecting these. I bought the first 1923 because it was in such nice condition; the other one is one that came from my dad (which has been cleaned-probably by me as a youngster), which I'm keeping for posterity. Just not a lot of interest in these for some reason. I think the design just holds little appeal for me.