1887 Morgan Dollars 1878-1921 MS64

History

Silver dollar production had been halted by the Coinage Act of 1873, which put the United States on the gold standard and which silver advocates labeled the "Crime of 1873." Falling silver prices, driven in part by the Comstock Lode strike in Nevada in 1859, gave western mining interests reason to press Congress, and the Bland-Allison Act of 1878 required the Treasury to buy specified quantities of silver and coin it into dollars. By 1887 the Philadelphia Mint was filling that quota on a large scale, surpassing the series production record the same mint had set only the year before.

Details

George T. Morgan designed both sides. The coin is 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weighs 26.73 grams, measures 38.10 mm across and has a reeded edge. Philadelphia struck 20,290,000 circulation pieces in 1887, none of which carry a mint mark.

Features

The obverse shows Liberty facing left wearing a Phrygian cap, with LIBERTY on the band holding a spray of leaves and wheat sheaves, E PLURIBUS UNUM above, seven stars to the left and six to the right, and the date below. The reverse carries a wingspread eagle grasping a branch and three arrows. Repunched dates occur on a number of 1887 Philadelphia dies, and the best known of them is the Doubled Date, listed as Breen-5594 and VAM-5, which is scarce and the most sought after of the group.

Notable facts

• Mint Director Henry P. Linderman set an internal Mint competition in 1877, pitting Chief Engraver William Barber against his assistant George T. Morgan for the new silver dollar design.
• President Rutherford B. Hayes vetoed the Bland-Allison Act on February 28, 1878.
• Mint records list 55 obverse and 54 reverse dies prepared for the 1887 Philadelphia issue, a figure that works out to roughly 368,909 coins per obverse die and one that PCGS suggests may reflect an error in the Mint's bookkeeping.
• Monthly deliveries ran 2,020,000 in January, 1,950,000 in February, 2,020,000 in March, 2,000,000 in April, 1,900,000 in May and 1,500,000 in June, with nothing in July and 1,500,000 in August.
• The San Francisco Mint struck only 1,771,000 dollars in 1887, a small fraction of the Philadelphia total.
• Business-strike Morgan dollar production across 1878-1904 and 1921 totals 656,989,387 coins, against a proof mintage of 23,723.