1888 Morgan Dollars 1878-1921 MS64

History

Philadelphia struck silver dollars in enormous numbers through 1888 under the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, with New Orleans close behind and San Francisco contributing a smaller share. Some coins entered circulation near the time of striking, while others sat in Treasury storage until the 1918 Pittman Act sent large quantities to the melting pot. The survivors that remained in bags came out in the mid-1950s, when 1888 dollars were released by the millions, which is why Mint State examples of the date are so easy to find today. The variety itself belongs to a much later chapter: Jeff Oxman published the Hot 50 in 2000 as a supplement to the Top 100 selected by Michael Fey and Oxman, drawing on the roughly 2,000 varieties catalogued in the Van Allen and Mallis reference, and the book was reprinted in 2008 after years out of print.

Details

George T. Morgan designed both sides of the dollar, which was struck in an alloy of 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weighing 26.73 grams and measuring 38.1 millimeters across a reeded edge. Each piece contains 0.77344 troy ounces of pure silver. The Philadelphia Mint produced 19,183,000 business strikes in 1888; no separate figure exists for any individual die pairing, since the Mint kept no record of output by die. Both prooflike and deep mirror prooflike examples of this variety are recognized as distinct listings by PCGS.

Features

The obverse carries Liberty facing left in a cap with LIBERTY on the headband, surrounded by a wreath of cotton and wheat, with the date 1888 below and E PLURIBUS UNUM above. The reverse shows a heraldic eagle within a wreath, thirteen stars above, IN GOD WE TRUST in Gothic lettering, and the legends UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DOLLAR. VAMWorld lists the variety as 1888-P VAM-12, Doubled Ear, High Date, Doubled Reverse, filed under the C3e doubled reverse die grouping, so the attribution rests on three pickup points rather than one. VAM-12A is the same die pair with a clashed obverse n, while VAM-12B has been removed from the listings.

Notable facts

• The 1888-O, with a mintage of 12,150,000, is the branch mint issue that produced the better known Scarface and Hot Lips varieties of the year.
• PCGS records an auction record of $441 for an MS65 example of this variety, sold in December 2013.
• PCGS maintains a combined Morgan Dollars Top 100 plus Hot 50 VAM registry set for circulation strikes dated 1878 to 1921.
• Several other 1888 Philadelphia dies carry doubled reverses, including VAM-4, VAM-7 with its 7A through 7D progression, VAM-16A and VAM-24, so attribution by name alone is unreliable.
• Morgan dollars, early large cents and Bust half dollars are the three American series most widely collected by die variety.