Q. David Bowers
The Author Remembers
Echoing the reminiscences of those just quoted, I remember that in the early 1950s there was very little collector interest in saving silver dollars. Typically, numismatists of the day acquired with eagerness everything in the federal series from half cents to Liberty Walking half dollars (Franklin half dollars were not popular in their own time), and stopped there.
Why Morgan and Peace dollars were not popular I cannot say, except to suggest that there were a number of rarities one never saw in higher grades, and that the designs were not particularly favored. As strange as it may seem, there was more interest in collecting Barber half dollars (a specialty somewhat ignored today) than in Morgan dollars.
The rarity of rarities in the series was the 1903-O. I had never even seen an Uncirculated example, let alone owned one. Even worn specimens were elusive, but a Mint State piece was virtually unheard of.
As a high-school student I decided that I would form a collection of Morgan and Peace dollars, and do it from circulation. At the time, silver dollars were available in endless numbers from banks, although in the East silver dollars were not used in everyday commerce. My local institution, the Forty Fort (Pennsylvania) State Bank, did not have many silver dollars, and once I had searched through them there was not the possibility that they would be getting any more until these had been paid out. A few miles away in a neighboring town was the Kingston National Bank. I took $1,000, representing a good deal of my capital as a beginning coin dealer, and went to that bank, and began looking through bags of dollars.
At the time, most bags were mixtures of worn Morgan and Peace dollars. The most common of all issues was the 1921 Morgan, which was usually seen in grades from Extremely Fine to what we would call MS-60 today. 1922, 1923, and 1924 Peace dollars were also in abundance, so much so, that the 1921 Morgan dollar and these three dates of Peace dollars probably accounted for 25% or more of a typical bag. This is from memory, as I didn't keep track at the time.
Philadelphia Mint coins of earlier dates also abounded, with the Morgan dollars from 1878 through about 1891 being very common in grades such as VF, EF, and AU. Scruffy looking Uncirculated coins were also found, but it was apparent that most of these had been mixed in with worn coins and had been stored with them for a long time; they were not from fresh bags recently mixed in. Anyone who remembers looking through Treasury bags of such coins will vouch for my statement that nearly all the coins in such a bag had a uniform color: dull brownish gray. There were seldom any fresh, bright bagmarks on these dollars, for they had been in storage for many years and had long since toned.
The joy was looking for scarce dates among worn coins. Carson Citycoins were very scarce in bags I looked through in Pennsylvania, and it was only occasionally that I found them. I eventually put together all of the Carson City dates, but the typical grade was apt to be VF or EF. Some were worn down to the VG to Fine level. Obviously, at one time such coins saw hard and long use in circulation, undoubtedly in the American West. I don't recall ever finding a Carson City dollar with even a small amount of mint lustre.
New Orleans coinswere next on the list of desirability, with the 1903-O being especially nice to find. In the course of looking through thousands of worn coins I picked out a few 1903-O dollars in lower grades. Worn San Francisco coins were very common, and over a period of time I found quite a few 1892-S (which was not considered to be scarce in worn condition) but, as far as I remember, none of the 1893-S. Most such San Francisco coins were in grades such as VF and EF, although there were AU specimens in quantity. I never found an 1895 Philadelphia Mint coin, nor did I ever see a Liberty Seated dollar.
I took many such coins and cleaned them with baking soda and water (perish the thought now; but it was the thing everyone did back then!). This could only be done with AU and Uncirculated coins; others were best left alone. Often, it was impossible to tell the true grade of a coin before cleaning it. I am often reminded of this today when I see a dingy, dark gray silver coin in a slab marked "MS-65" or some other high grade. I know full well that a good percentage of these, if cleaned, would yield coins that are really AU or MS-60. As I grew more sophisticated I left baking soda behind, and used silver dip instead (a practice still acceptable today; see Photograde for details). A solution of baking soda and water would be used to neutralize the dip, but no rubbing or friction.
Uncirculated (no one ever called them Mint State back then; this was strictly a term found in Dr. Sheldon's Early American Cents book and only a few selected other places) dollars became numerous in the mid-1950s. These typically were of Philadelphia Mint dates from 1878 through about 1891, with the dates 1881 through 1887 being particularly plentiful. I don't remember many Uncirculated Morgan dollars of later dates, with the exception of those dated 1896 and 1897. In catalogues, dollars were described as Uncirculated. Period. Such refinements as MS-60, MS-61, MS-62, etc., were unheard of. Sometimes the word gem was used, or choice, but that was about it for adjectives. Later, bags of 1903 dollars were released in Pennsylvania, as were some Philadelphia Mint dates of the 1890s.
In comparing my experiences with others who looked through Treasury bags of worn coins in the 1950s, it seems to be the case that bags of circulated dollars were made up at the various Federal Reserve Banks and stayed within certain areas. As an example, while bags consisting of slightly worn New Orleans issues of the early 1880s apparently turned up with frequency in the Midwest, I never saw or heard of such a bag in Pennsylvania (where I lived until moving to New York in 1960). '
At the time I also looked through Treasury bags of worn dimes, quarters, and half dollars. As Trecall, the Kingston National Bank wrapped its dimes and quarters, but half dollars could be had in cloth bags from the Federal Reserve. $1,000 face value worth of half dollars would typically yield nearly a complete set with, two or three exceptions-of Liberty Walking half dollars and, perhaps, a half dozen to a dozen Barber halves. The Barbers were usually worn to the point of near smoothness; this was especially true of dates prior to 1900.
At that time, banks were very helpful to me, even though I did not have an account anywhere except the Forty Fort State Bank and, later, the Second National Bank of Wilkes Barre. The idea of a youngster spending hours in a safe-deposit room looking through bags of silver dollars and reporting that some nice coins were found, was pleasing to the tellers involved. At the time coin collecting was not a widespread interest, and virtually no one collected silver dollars. I don't think any of the banks in the Forty Fort, Kingston, and Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania area had ever had a request before from anyone who wanted to go treasure hunting.
The Second National Bank and Miners National Bank, both of Wilkes-Barre, were also very helpful. The Second National Bank had a teller who was a coin collector, and when he thought he had something I might like, he would give me a call. I recall buying a bag of 1903 Philadelphia Mint dollars at the time considered to be one of the scarcer dates-for face value and selling them for $7.50 per coin; this was in the late 1950s. I also recall that gold coins would be turned into banks by the public on occasion, and that the standard buying price I paid-for for $2.50 and $5 pieces was twice face value, less for $10 and $20 coins, and more for $1 and $3 pieces. Rare dates commanded a premium. Typically, bank tellers would acquire gold coins at face value and sell them to coin dealers such as I.
I recall that around 1956 or 1957 Abe Kosoff had a client who wanted 15 bags of Uncirculated Morgan dollars. Abe's client; who lived in California, had all of the San Francisco Mint bags he wanted, and now he desired some Philadelphia: coins. He sent me a check for $16,000, representing my profit of $1,000 over face value. I went to the Miners National Bank and asked them to order from the Federal Reserve a group of 15 bags of as many different Philadelphia Mint dates as possible. Apparently, there was no problem in placing such a specific order, for a few days later the bags arrived. While there were not 15 different dates, still there was a nice assortment. On my own, I did not want bags of Uncirculated Philadelphia Mint dollars, most of which were dated in the 1880s, because, as others have also stated, there simply was no market for them. If anyone had wanted to buy 100,000 Uncirculated Morgan dollars, or a million of them, for face value, there would have been no problem.