1894 Morgan Dollars 1878-1921 MS63

History

Silver dollar production resumed in 1878 with the design of George T. Morgan, an assistant engraver at the U.S. Mint, and continued through the turbulent silver politics of the following decade. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890, framed as a compromise between gold and silver interests, drained Treasury gold reserves and drew blame for the Panic of 1893; President Grover Cleveland called Congress into emergency session that summer, and the Act was repealed in the autumn, pushing the country toward the gold standard at heavy political cost to Cleveland. Against that backdrop, the San Francisco Mint delivered no dollars at all during the first half of 1894. Coinage began in July and ran through December, ending a calendar year in which dollar production had been sharply curtailed.

Details

George T. Morgan designed both sides of the coin. San Francisco struck 1,260,000 business strikes in 1894, delivered in six monthly batches: 160,000 in July, 300,000 in August, 300,000 in September, 250,000 in October, 150,000 in November and 100,000 in December. The standard is 90 percent silver and 10 percent copper, weighing 26.73 grams, or 412 1/2 grains, with a diameter of 38.1 mm and a reeded edge. Eighteen obverse dies and thirteen reverse dies were prepared for the issue.

Features

The obverse carries Morgan's head of Liberty and the reverse an eagle clasping arrows and an olive branch, a design dated 1878 and used throughout the series. Known 1894-S business strikes use a normal date, catalogued by Breen as 5636, and the recorded varieties are positional only, with three obverses and four reverses described in the VAM listings. That is a thin variety roster for a date struck from thirty-one dies. Prooflike examples are the distinguishing collector interest here, and some prooflike and deep mirror prooflike pieces show die polish marks, which appear as microscopic raised lines or swirls and can be separated from cleaning hairlines by the fact that hairlines are incuse.

Notable facts

• The auction record for the issue is $72,000, paid for a PCGS MS67 sold by Stack's Bowers on November 18, 2020.
• Combined PCGS and NGC data show prooflike 1894-S dollars appearing roughly eight to ten times more often than deep mirror prooflike examples.
• As of September 1992, PCGS had certified 91 prooflike and 11 deep mirror prooflike 1894-S dollars, with none of the DMPLs grading MS-65 or higher.
• PCGS tracks the date under two catalog numbers, 7232 for regular strikes and 7233 for the prooflike designation.
• Pieces advertised as proofs by the Pukalls in The Numismatist in 1953 were most likely deep mirror prooflike business strikes.