Bill Jones' Type Set Excluding Modern Issues
S$1 MORGAN LIBERTY HEAD (1878-1921)

Owner Comments:

The Bland-Allison Act was a compromise law that Congress fashioned to appease the silver lobby. In 1873 Congress had in essence demonetarized silver and placed the United States on the gold standard. Outraged silver coinage advocates labeled that law “the crime of ‘73” and pushed hard for the resumption of the free coinage of silver. Many feared that such a move would result in massive inflation, but the silver advocates could not be silenced.

The Bland-Allison Act required the government to purchase from 2 to 4 million dollars worth of silver each month and coin into silver dollars. There was only a limited demand for these coins, and the vast majority of them were stored in treasury vaults for many years.

This 1883 Morgan silver dollar is one of 1,039 Proof silver dollars that the Philadelphia mint issued that year. It was struck twice by specially prepared polished dies on burnished planchets. As a result it has mirrored fields and sharply detailed devices.

The Morgan Dollar series continued until 1904 when there was a cessation in coinage. It resumed again in 1921 and continued until December of that year when the design was replaced by the Peace Dollar.