Q. David Bowers
Forming a Collection
Morgan Dollars in the Guide Book
Where should you begin with a collection of Morgan dollars? There are between 96 and 110 or so Morgan dollars in a non-technical set, depending on what you include. (If you collect Van Allen-Mallis minute die varieties, the number climbs into the thousands!)
The Guide Book of United States Coins lists the following:
1878 8 Tail Feathers
18787/8 [7/0ther] Tail Feathers
18787 Tail Feathers, 2nd Rev.
1878 7 Tail Feathers, 3rd Rev.
1878-CC
1878-S
1879
1879-CC Large CC over Small CC ("Broken CC")
1879-CC Cleat (or Perfect) CC
1879-O
1879-S 2nd Rev.
1879-S 3rd Rev.
1880 8 over 7
1880
1880-CC 80 over 79, 2nd Rev.
1880-CC 8 over 7, 2nd Rev.
1880-CC 8 over high 7, 3rd Rev.
1880-CC 8 over low 7, 3rd Rev.
1880-CC 3rd Rev.
1880-O, 8 over 7
1880-O
1880-S, 8 over 7
1880-S, 0 over 9
1880-S
1881
1881-CC
1881-O
1881-S
1882
1882-CC
1882-O
1882-O, O over S
1882-S
1883
1883-CC
1883-O
1883-S
1884
1884-CC
1884-O
1884-S
1885
1885-CC
1885-O
1885-S
1886
1886-O
1886-S
1887-7 over 6
1887
1887-O, 7 over 6
1887-O
1887-S
1888
1888-O
1888-S
1689
1889-CC
1889-O
1889-S
1890
1890-CC
1890-O
1890-S
1891
1891-CC
1891-O
1891-S
1892
1892-CC
1892-O
1892-S
1893
1893-CC
1893-O
1893-S
1894
1894-O
1894-S
1895
1895-O
1895-S
1896
1896-O