Owner Comments:
Total Graded: 2949448
Total Prooflike: 68167
Total DPL: 26656
Percentage: 3.2149%
The Morgan, overall, has the second highest number of certified coins with nearly 2 million (only the Silver American Eagle $1 bullion coin has more), but the Morgan has by far the highest number of prooflike coins graded – by several orders of magnitude. The percentage of over 3% is tremendous. There are more Deep Mirror Prooflike Morgan Dollars graded than there are total coins graded for many series. Prooflikes, and their deeper mirrored counterpart the DMPL (Deep Mirror Prooflike, also abbreviated DPL), are very popular to collect. Indeed, the only series PCGS designates as prooflike are the Morgans. Nearly every date and mintmark has prooflike coins known, which means the Morgan is one of the very few series for which a complete set of prooflikes could be assembled (and, with a couple of exceptions, this would be a fairly easy set to assemble). This would be a truly amazing set! I’ve sometimes considered putting a PL Morgan set together, but to be honest, the Morgan isn’t a very interesting coin to me.
Throughout the evolution of this set, I have owned a few different Morgans. The current example is an amazing specimen. I knew that I wanted a DMPL, and I knew that it had to be a high grade. 1885 is a very common date, and coins of this issue are widely available in almost any condition. This coin came from Don Rinkor (the go-to guy for prooflike Morgan dollars). It has deep, watery mirrors, and gorgeous cameo contrast. The strike is strong; the luster flashes. In every way, this is a premium coin. When I show this one to fellow collectors, there is always a bit of a “Wow” – and what better compliment can you ask for?