The Newport Ridge Collection - GSA Non-CC Morgan Silver Dollars
1878 7/8TF GSA HOARD

Owner Comments:

This is an extremely rare (pop 1 of 1) and special coin. It has the distinction of the being the first and only NGC graded 1878-P in a GSA holder. For VAM fans, it is also special in that it is the first GSA variety identified as a VAM 41A. I would like to thank Lewis Rosenbaum, an expert in GSA Morgans, for his excellent investigative work in determining the VAM, which was confirmed by NGC during the grading process. I am aware that there are other ungraded 1878-P’s in the GSA holders out there (at least two, and possibly more), but they have been identified as VAM 37. This coin is bright white, but is fairly baggy around the cheek area and on the obverse in general. I am including a close-up picture of the reverse tail feathers, which was used to confirm the variety.

I acquired this coin on ebay in a spirited auction that included other GSA registry participants. The seller also had a 1903-O GSA (another rare date) up for auction, but closed that auction early when given an out-of-ebay offer from another bidder. Very disappointing. I contacted the seller and pleaded with him not to close the auction early for the 1878-P, even though he had two offers to close it. I was lucky enough (or foolish enough, depending on your point of view) to win the auction, even though I was actually on vacation in Hawaii when the auction closed. I had another ebayer bid for me, as I did not have access to a computer at the time.