1888 Morgan Dollars 1878-1921 MS63

History

The Bland-Allison Act, enacted February 28, 1878, obliged the Treasury to buy $2 million to $4 million of silver each month and coin it into standard silver dollars, a response to the free silver movement and to silver's demonetization under the Coinage Act of 1873. President Rutherford B. Hayes vetoed the bill on grounds that its silver provisions would damage public credit, and Congress overrode him the same day. The 1888-O is therefore a middle-of-run product of a statutory purchase mandate rather than of any commemorative occasion, and by that year New Orleans was one of several mints absorbing the required bullion into dollar coinage that mostly went into government vaults instead of circulation. Q. David Bowers records that 1888-O dollars dribbled out of storage into the coin market in small quantities in 1946 and again during the 1950s, particularly from about 1955 through 1957 and 1958, which explains why the date is easily found in Mint State today.

Details

George T. Morgan designed both sides, and the New Orleans Mint struck 12,150,000 pieces in 1888. The alloy is 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, following the weight and fineness of the Act of January 18, 1837 that the Bland-Allison Act reinstated. Each coin weighs 26.73 grams and measures 38.10 millimeters in diameter, with a reeded edge.

Features

The obverse carries Liberty facing left in a Phrygian cap, LIBERTY on her hair band, with E PLURIBUS UNUM, the date and thirteen stars for the original colonies around her. On the reverse a bald eagle holds an olive branch in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other, encircled by UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, ONE DOLLAR and IN GOD WE TRUST. The best known variety is VAM-4, the Hot Lips doubled die obverse, a Guide Book listing and a Top 100 variety showing dramatic doubling at the mouth, chin, nostrils, profile and leaves. PCGS also recognizes two Oval O varieties for the date, VAM-2 and VAM-18, both Top 100 listings, along with a generic doubled die obverse designation and a Scarface listing.

Notable facts

• The 1837 standards carried forward by the Bland-Allison Act give the coin about .7734 troy ounce of pure silver.
• The House overrode the presidential veto by 196 to 73 and the Senate by 46 to 19.
• The Fey-Oxman Top 100 guide of 1997 called VAM-4 the number one doubled die obverse of the Morgan dollar series and knew of only a single BU example at the time.
• By 2015 both NGC and PCGS had each certified two Hot Lips examples in MS61 with one finer at MS62.
• The date is among the most plentiful Morgan dollars with deep mirror prooflike surfaces and cameo contrast, though most such coins fall below the MS-65 DMPL level.
• PCGS maintains dedicated 1888-O Scarface holders, including PL and DMPL sub-designations.