NNP Encyclopedia data is provided in cooperation with Whitman Brands, based on catalog data organized by the Greysheet Identification System (GSID).
Entry Details
Coin Date: Morgan Denomination (Short): $1 Denomination (Long): Dollar Variety: Carson City Mint Variety 2: GSA Hoard Hard package Desg: MS Mint Mark: CC Composition: 90% silver; 10% copper Strike Type: Business Coinage Type: Morgan silver dollar Coinage Years: 1878-1921 Mint Location: Carson City Diameter: 38.1 Fineness: 0.9 Weight (Grams): 26.73 Weight (Ounces): 0.943 Designer: George T. Morgan Edge: Reeded Obverse Description: Portrait of Liberty centered. On the left are found 7 stars with the words E*PLURIBUS*UNUM followed by 6 stars on the right. The date is positioned at the bottom. The heraldic eagle is centered holding a bunch of arrows and branch surrounded by and olive leaves. The words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA * ONE DOLLAR frame the periphery. Mint mark, if any, appears above the letters DO of DOLLAR. Reverse Description: The heraldic eagle is centered holding a bunch of arrows and branch surrounded by and olive leaves. The words UNITED STATES OF AMERICA * ONE DOLLAR frame the periphery. Mint mark, if any, appears above the letters DO of DOLLAR. General Notes: The GSA Morgan dollars released by the General Services Administration include a variety of dates mainly represented mostly by scarce Carson City, or CC-mint, Morgan dollar as well as a scattering of pieces from the Philadelphia, San Francisco, and New Orleans Mints. These silver dollars were packaged in rigid plastic (hard pack) and pliable plastic (soft pack) holders and sold via a mail bid system to coin collectors throughout the United States in a series of sales spanning the 1970s and early 1980s.
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Some dates are more common, such as the CC Morgan dollars from the mid 1880s (1882-1885) at several hundred thousand examples apiece, while the 1890-CC saw fewer than 4,000 leave government custody in plastic. Those who bought the GSA dollars earlier on often broke the coins out of the bulky cases. However, in more recent years, collectors have come to appreciate the original government packaging as it grows scarcer in the collector market. Nowadays, both PCGS and NGC will grade GSA Morgan dollars while leaving them intact in their GSA holders.