Q. David Bowers
Proof Coinage
One of the most interesting areas of the 1878 mintage was the Proof coinage for collectors. There was considerable anticipation among the numismatists of the country. Thus, officials wasted little time in striking Proof coins. In fact, the first true delivery of Morgan dollars consisted of 100 specimens on March 12; on March 15 another 100 were delivered by the coiner while March 18 also saw 100 specimens for sale to collectors. All of these were sold at $1.25 each (if paid for in silver coin; $1.50 in paper), although the collector had to pay the postage and insurance in addition.
There is no question but that the first 300 Proof dollars were from dies made from I-A hubs. The II-B hubs were certainly underway by March 18 but far from being ready for Proof coinage. The problem delivery is that of March 26 when 200 more were delivered by the coiner. Some believe that these contained coins with 7 tail feathers (II-B) but it is more likely that the 8 tail feather coins (I-A) were still being made. Alternatively, it has been suggested that 100 of each type were in the shipment.
Walter H. Breen has reported that true Proofs (as opposed to relatively common prooflike specimens) with 7 tail feathers are quite rare. It has been found that there was one further delivery of 1878 Proof dollars, 50 pieces on November 8. There is little doubt that the November 8 delivery consisted of 7 tail feather coins. Oddly enough, only 34 of these were sold to collectors and the remaining 16 released into circulation in January 1879.
The official report said that the remaining 16 had been released into circulation, but it was common practice in those days to sell unsold Proof coins at face value to favored local coin dealers. It is likely that a fair number of Proof coins for the second and third set of hubs (both of which had 7 tail feathers) were struck for official use in 1878 and over a period of time found their way into private collections. The true coinage of 7 tail feather Proof dollars, under such circumstances, might well be as high as 75 or 80 pieces. (QDB note: Estimates of Proof coinage and the distribution among the 1878 varieties differ from one scholar to another. Later in the present book, I (QDB) use these estimated Proof figures: 1878 8 TF: 500, 1878 7 TF, reverse of '78: 250 to 300; 1878 7 TF, reverse of '79: M minted, 34 sold. A smaller total can be derived by taking the daily weekly delivery totals in tables 5-2 and 5-3, 3rd edition VAM, p. 87, and considering only the figures that do not end in 000: 100 Proofs delivered on March 12, 100 on March 15, 100 on March 18, 200 on March 26, and 50 on November 9 = 550 totally. )
It is probable that most of the November 8 delivery were of Proof dollars from the III-C hubs, but some could have been struck in Mayor June from the II-B combination and simply held over until needed. The easiest way of telling reverse B from C is to note that B has parallel arrow feathers below the eagle while C has the top arrow feather slanted.
For many years the published figure for the 1878 Proof Morgan dollars was 1,000, broken down evenly between those with 8 and 7 tail feathers. This is now known to be wrong. Numismatists have naturally asked why the mintage was so low, considering collector interest. It is true that Proof sales were comparatively light, but this was because prooflike specimens were readily available from banks throughout the country, find the enterprising collector could save 25 cents (no mean sum in those days) by simply picking one up at a bank.
Morgan Dollars In Circulation
Morgan dollars did circulate in this country beginning in 1878, although the heaviest usage was in the West. In fact, silver dollars were commonly seen in that part of the country well into the 1950s. In the East silver dollars were used, but not on any great scale as paper money was preferred. Including coins held in banks, some 60 million Morgan dollars were thought to be in commercial use by the end of the 1880s.
Throughout the 1880s coinage of dollars was very heavy, reaching nearly 20 million pieces in some years. The number struck tended to increase because the price of silver continued to decline and the government was required' to buy a minimum amount ($2 million worth) of bullion each month. The intrinsic value of the silver dollar in 1878 was 89 cents, but by 1897 this-had dropped to 50 cents. The falling price of silver, despite government subsidies in the form of massive purchases, forced mine owners to cut wages on more than one occasion. This in turn created labor unrest. There were also labor problems elsewhere because of the aftermath of deflationary policies pursued by the government in the 1860s and 1870s.
Additional Patterns
Pattern dollars were struck' on several occasions from 1879 through 1882 but their practical application is difficult to see. Several of the dies were of very high quality, such as the Morgan "Schoolgirl" design of 1879 and the Liberty Head with shield earrings of 1882. The half and quarter dollar patterns were an exercise in futility, given the virtual Cessation of such coinage after 1878 and the great numbers of such coins still sitting in government vaults.
From 1878 to 1880 the Philadelphia Mint also struck a series of Goloid dollar patterns, part of a scheme proposed by Dr. William Wheeler Hubbell to reorganize the monetary system. He believed that coins containing a mixture of gold and silver would end the age-old rivalry between the two metals and promote a sound currency. The idea was strange at best, but Hubbell had the ear of a key congressman, Alexander H. Stephens, and the Treasury was pressured into having a considerable variety of pattern coins-made at Hubbell's direction. Nothing came of the idea.
Technicalities
During the 1880s the New Orleans Mint was one of the mainstays of the dollar coinage. From time to time both Philadelphia and San Francisco were tied up on other coins, and the load was simply shifted to the Louisiana mint. There was no real problem executing the great dollar coinage of the 1880s. In fact the Carson City Mint, which also could have handled excess coinage, was closed on several occasions in the 1870s and 1880s. Labor costs were higher at this mint, among other problems, including a recurring shortage of bullion (due to political considerations and freight rates; silver was abundant in the Comstock Lode 15 miles distant).
Certain dollars of the year 1884 are distinguished by dots on some of the obverse and reverse dies. It is believed these dots marked the time "when the size and width of all digits were reduced." (Van Allen-Mallis) There may also have been changes in the way that the dies were basined (polished), but this is speculation. The obverse dot is only found by the engraver's initial M on the truncation of the Liberty head, while the reverse dot is next to the M on the ribbon bow. They are found only on Philadelphia coins; two obverses and one reverse.
In February 1885, at the express direction of Philadelphia Mint Superintendent A. Loudon Snowden, the Engraving Department worked with the coiner to produce a lettered-edge pattern for the Morgan dollar. E PLURIBUS UNUM is found in raised letters on the edge; it may be that Snowden was concerned about counterfeits, given the continually falling price of silver, but it is more likely that he simply wanted to test the edge-lettering device purchased in the 1870s from the Brussels (Belgium) Mint. These patterns are of extreme rarity.