Q. David Bowers
1896-S
1897
1897-O
1897-S
1898
1898-O
1898-S
1899
1899-O
1899-S
1900
1900-O
1900-O over CC
1900-S
1901
1901-O
1901-S
1902
1902-O
1902-S
1903
1903-O
1903-S
1904
1904-O
1904-S
1921
1921-D
1921-S
The 1878 tail feather varieties have been collectedfor a long time. At first the variety with 8 tail feathers and the variety with 7 tail feathers were thosecollected, then the "7/8 tailfeathers," as it was called(actually 7/other tail feathers), became popular in the1960s. The distinction between the 1878 7 tailfeathers with 2nd reverse and 3rd reverse is alsonumismatically important (the 2nd reverse has a par-allel top arrow feather and 7 feathers to the eagle'stail while the 3rd reverse has a slanted top arrowfeather and also has 7 feathers to the eagle's tail).
Of the varieties listed in the Guide Book, some arepopular and others are not. In general, the typicalnumismatist desires just one variety of 1879-CC, with the "clear" or "perfect" CC mintmark takingprecedence over the "broken" (as the Guide Book calls it) or "capped" CC. Properly, the variety should becalled large CC over small CC. This issue is distinctly rarer than the "clear" or "perfect" CC.
The 1879-S with 2nd reverse is the parallel arrowfeather variety, with small mintmark, concave breastto the eagle, and with the top arrow feather parallel tothe shaft. As noted in the text to follow, this issuewas considered to be extremely rare in Mint State grade until three bags (3,000 coins) allegedly turned up in the Redfield hoard. By now most pieces have been dispersed, and it is once again quite elusive. There is no particular reason why this variety shouldn't be more widely collected. What is needed in this regard is more publicity. A specific chapter is devoted to it in John Highfill's Comprehensive U.S. Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, so this may do the trick.
1880 with 8 over 7 in date has not been among the more popular varieties, possibly because it is very rare in Mint State. Circulated examples have a wider following. Magnification is required to distinguish the overdate feature; the same is true of other 1880 overdates from other mints.
The 1880-CC offers a whole string of variations in seemingly confusing array. While the section on 1880-CC dollars in this book gives more information, I recommend that at least two coins be acquired, one with the Second Reverse (quite rare and unappreciated on today's market) and one with the Third Reverse. Overdates will then come "with the territory," as explained in the 1880-CC section.
The 1882-O over S (1882-O/S) is rare in higher grades but is relatively unappreciated and unpublicized. However, it is definitely an overmintmark, and probably it is deserving of more attention than it has received. The only problem is that this is a "magnifying glass variety," much more so than the other overmintmark in the series, the 1900-O/CC, and it is not readily distinguished except by this procedure.
The 1887/6 and 1887/6-O overdates are rare and desirable, especially in higher grades, but have not had much publicity until recent years (just as today, varieties such as the 1884 Dot and the 1900-1904 dollars from new, old, and new over old hubs have not been publicized extensively).
Receiving the most attention of all overmintmarks is the 1900-O/CC. Examples are highly desired in all grades. Fortunately for numismatists, there are many Mint State coins available.
Adding up these Guide Book varieties we come to a total of 113 coins in a Morgan dollar collection.
A Basic Morgan Dollar Collection
A simplified listing for a very basic collection is as follows, but here again some can be eliminated if you don't want them, particularly the varieties of 1878. Here is my suggestion of which varieties to include in such a set: