Q. David Bowers
NGC and PCGS MS-66: Analysis
Below are the combined totals of Morgan silver dollars in MS-66 grade, in order from the commonest to the rarest, as reflected by the number of certified by NGC and PCGS.
In the past, Morgan dollars in MS-66 and higher grades were primarily sold to investors, rather than to collectors. This is especially true of issues such as 1879-S, 1880-S, 1881-S, etc., of which many coins exist. On the other hand, a rare issue such as 1884-S, 1892-S, 1893-S, or 1895-O, to name just a few prime varieties, would be highly desired by any connoisseur, as they represent coins that are rare as a date and also rare in high grades. To date, no MS- 66's have been certified for 23 issues.
1881-S: 5,763 (Most common certified Morgan dollar at this grade level)
1880-S: 4,029
1879-S Third Rev. (Rev. of '79): 2,781
1882-S: 2,032
1886:975
1885-O: 805
1885:527
1883:391
1887:361
1898-O: 361
1883-CC: 323
1899-O: 322
1884-O: 311
1881-CC: 260
1884-CC: 224
1885-CC: 186
1883-O: 181
1903:164
1904-O: 164
1878-S: 148
1882-CC: 146
1900-O: 129
1903-O: 116
1888: 104
1884: 92
1896:90
1902-O: 90
1900:77
1902:63
1897-S: 61
1880-CC: 59
1898:56
1890-S: 44
1921-D: 43
1882:42
1897:42
1878-CC: 39
1921: 35
1899:34
1901-O: 33 WOO-O/CC: 25
1889:23
1891-S: 21
1899-S: 19
1900-S: 16
1881: 12
1886-S: 12
1888-O: 12
1880-CC Rev. of '78: 11
1889-S: 11
1903-S: 11
1885-S: 9
1891-CC: 9
1902-S: 8
1892-CC: 7
18788 TF: 6
1879-O: 6
1889-O: 6
1890-CC: 6
1901-S: 6
1879:5
1888-S: 5
1892-S: 5
1898-S: 5
1878 7 TF. Rev. of '78: 4
1882-O: 4
1890-O: 4
1894-S: 4
1904: 4
1878 7/0ther TF: 3
1881-O: 2
1887-S: 2
1894:2
1895-S: 2
1897-O:2
1880: 1
1884-S: 1
1890: 1
1891: 1
1895-O: 1
1896-S: 1
1904-S: 1
1878 7 TF. Rev. of 79: 0
1879-CC: 0
1879-CC Large CC over Small CC: 0
1879-S Second Rev. (Rev. of '78): 0
1880-O: 0
1882-O/S: 0
1883-S: 0
1886-O: 0
1887/6:0
1887/6-0: 0
1887-O: 0
1889-CC: 0
1891-O: 0
1892:O
1892-O: 0
1893:O
1893-CC: 0
1893-O: 0
1893-S: 0
1894-O: 0
1896-O: 0
1901:O
1921-S: O