This will be a Morgan dollar, which were minted between 1878 and 1921 and could be worth anything between $15 to $50. The most valuable of all Morgan dollars was minted in 1895, and is known as the ‘King of the Morgan Dollars’. It has been known for one of these coins to fetch $120,000 at auction.
The reason this coin is so valuable is because it is so rare; there were only 12,000 regular circulation Morgan dollars struck in 1895 and 880 Proof dollars. Up to now, there has only been 75 - 80 of these coins accounted for, and all of them have been Proof specimens. There are many theories why none of the regular coins has ever been found, including one that suggests that they were all lost at sea!
The real name for the Morgan dollar is the Liberty Head dollar, but it was dubbed the Morgan because it was designed by George T. Morgan. When it first made an appearance, it was unpopular and was ridiculed as the Buzzard dollar because it was said that the eagle was scrawny. It was also called the Cartwheel dollar because of its size and bulk.
Between 1878 and 1904, there were more than half a billion Morgan dollars made. The reason for this was because Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act in 1878, which mandated that the Treasury had to buy between two and four million troy ounces of silver every single month.
The reason for this was the sheer amount of silver that was coming out of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. A group of silver miners formed a lobbying group that led to the U.S. Treasury becoming its biggest customer. Rather than just sit on all of this silver, it was decided to make it into coins.
The reason this coin is so valuable is because it is so rare; there were only 12,000 regular circulation Morgan dollars struck in 1895 and 880 Proof dollars. Up to now, there has only been 75 - 80 of these coins accounted for, and all of them have been Proof specimens. There are many theories why none of the regular coins has ever been found, including one that suggests that they were all lost at sea!
The real name for the Morgan dollar is the Liberty Head dollar, but it was dubbed the Morgan because it was designed by George T. Morgan. When it first made an appearance, it was unpopular and was ridiculed as the Buzzard dollar because it was said that the eagle was scrawny. It was also called the Cartwheel dollar because of its size and bulk.
Between 1878 and 1904, there were more than half a billion Morgan dollars made. The reason for this was because Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act in 1878, which mandated that the Treasury had to buy between two and four million troy ounces of silver every single month.
The reason for this was the sheer amount of silver that was coming out of the Comstock Lode in Nevada. A group of silver miners formed a lobbying group that led to the U.S. Treasury becoming its biggest customer. Rather than just sit on all of this silver, it was decided to make it into coins.
