Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States - A Complete Encyclopedia
Q. David Bowers
2. Double lips, also called "Hot Lips": Doubled obverse die, actually the strongest in the series (per V AM), discovered as a cherrypick by Chester Bryk (1962). VAM-4, Breen-5603, F&S $1-006. Very scarce. Usually in low grades (below EF-40). No highgrade Mint State coins have been seen by VAM or Walter Breen Jeff Oxman reported:" "Two DMPL specimens have come to light since 1990, an EF-45 and an AU; prior to these discoveries, no specimens with even a trace of prooflike surface had been known." Fivaz and Stanton call it "R-6" in AU and "at least R-7" Uncirculated, specifying that they had seen only one, a coin graded MS-60. Later die states (first reported by Kenneth B. Embler) show obverse cud breaks, 5:00-7:00, later still also 12:00-2:00 (Cf. Error ariety News 1/30/79, page 6).
3. Doubled reverse die: VAM-9. Doubling plain on right wreath, ERICA, ONE DOLLAR, tail feathers, arrow shafts, etc. VAM-12 and 15 also show doubling on the reverse.
1888-0 Morgan: Market Values
1888-O Morgan: Summary of Characteristics
Business Strikes:
Enabling legislation: As earlier, plus Act of February 28, 1878
Designer: George T. Morgan
Weight and composition: 412.5 grains; .900 silver, .100 copper
Melt-down (silver value) in year minted: $0.727
Dies prepared: Obverse: Unknown; Reverse: Unknown.
Business strike mintage: 12,150,000; Delivery figures by month: January: 1,000,000; February: 1,000,000; March: 1,200,000; April: 1,200,000; May: 1, 100,000; June: 750,000; July: 600,000; August: 1,000,000; September: 1,200,000; October: 1,000,000; November: 1,000,000; December: 1,100,000.
Estimated quantity melted: Probably millions under the 1918 Pittman Act and later legislation; many worn coins during the run-up in silver prices of the late 1970s.
Approximate population MS-65 or better: 4,000 to 8,000 (URS-14)
Approximate population MS-64: 20,000 to 35,000 (URS-16)
Approximate population MS-63: 40,000 to 80,000 (URS-17)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62: 100,000 to 200,000 (URS-18)
Approximate population G-4 to AU-58: 500,000 to 1,000,000 (URS-21)
Availability of prooflike coins: Very plentiful, probably on the order of 5,000-10,000 (URS-l4). DMPL coins are less plentiful and are mostly below MS-65.
Characteristics of striking: Most coins are lightly struck at the centers; probably 80% to 90% have this characteristic. However, sharply struck coins exist.
Known hoards of Mint State coins: Hundreds of thousands, if not a million or more, were released by the Treasury 1962-1964. Wayne Miller (1982, p. 9) mentions examining 25,000 Mint State coins in eastern Montana in the 1970s.
Proofs
None
Commentary
The 1888-O is common in Mint State. Most pieces are flatly struck. Notable for the most spectacular doubled die obverse in the entire Morgan series, indeed one of the most spectacular in the whole United States series. Its closest rival is the 1955 cent.