Q. David Bowers
Business Strikes:
Enabling legislation: Act of February 28, 1878, plus the Sherman Silver Purchase Act of July 14, 1890
Designer: George T. Morgan
Weight and composition: 412.5 grains; .900 silver, .100 copper
Melt-down (silver value) in year minted: $0.52257
Dies prepared: Obverse: Unknown; Reverse: Unknown.
Business strike mintage: 9,976,000; Delivery figures by month: January: none; February: 900,000; March: 900,000; April: 900,000; May: 900,000; June: 900,000; July: 162,000; August: 1,300,000; September: 1,300,000; October: 1,200,000; November: 514,000; December: 1,000,000.
Estimated quantity melted: Millions, probably including some under the 1918 Pittman Act.
Approximate population MS-65 or better: 12,500 to 20,000 (URS-15)
Approximate population MS-64: 50,000 to 100,000 (URS-17)
Approximate population MS-63: 100,000 to 180,000 (URS-18)
Approximate population MS-60 to 62: 500,000 to 1,000,000 (URS-21)
Approximate population G-4 to AU-58: 1,500,000 to 3,000,000 (URS-22)
Availability of prooflike coins: PL and DMPL pieces probably remain to the extent of at least 25,000- 50,000 (URS-16)
Characteristics of striking: Usually seen well struck.
Lustre varies from frosty to dull.
Known hoards of Mint State coins: Many hundreds of bags-probably totaling well over a million coins-were released by the Treasury in the 1950s and in 1962-1964.
Proofs:
Dies prepared: Obverse: At least 2; Reverse: At least 1
Proof mintage: 762; Delivery figures by month:
January: none; February: none; March: 287; April: none; May: none; June: 125; July: none; August: none; September: 100; October: none; November: none; December: 250.
Approximate population Proof-65 or better: 128+1-(URS-9)
Approximate population Proof-64: 166+/- (URS-9)
Approximate population Proof-63: 105+/- (URS-8)
Approximate population Proof-60 to 62: 195+/- (URS-9)
Commentary
The 1896 is the most common Morgan dollar of the 1890s and is plentiful in all business strike grades.
Assay Coins Put Into Circulation
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1896 discussed the Assay Commission, which met that year (as in every year) to take a few samples from large quantities of coins set aside from coins of various denominations from the different mints.
A listing of sources from which bullion was received at the Philadelphia Mint shows "melted assay coins purchased" amounting to just $400.80 worth of silver and $539.12 worth of gold. This is only a tiny fraction of the amount of coins set aside by assay. We can thus assume that other assay coins were released into circulation. This has always been an unresolved point with numismatists. I believe that all or nearly all of the three known 1873-CC No-Arrows quarter dollars and the 20 or so known 1876-CC 20-cent pieces in collectors hands are from specimens submitted to Philadelphia for the annual assay, and that no coins were released into circulation through normal procedures.
Mint Matters (All Mints)
The Annual Report of the Director of the Mint, 1896, gave in-formation in the following categories.
Distribution of silver dollars at various mints:
Philadelphia: In mint July 1, 1895,50,221,267; coinage fiscal year 18964,500,822; total 54,722,089; in mint July 1,1896, 54,522,267; distributed from mint 199,822. In addition, during fiscal year 1896 the assistant treasurer at Chicago branch of the Treasury Department transferred one million dollars to the Philadelphia Mint for storage.
San Francisco: In mint July 1, 1895,36,749,500; coinage fiscal year 1896 1,050,000; total 37,799,500; in mint July 1, 1896, 37,459,918; distributed from mint 339,582.
New Orleans: In mint July 1, 1895, 9,610,000; transferred from the Treasury 100,000; coinage fiscal year 1896, 1,950,000; total 11,660,000; in mint July 1, 1896, 11,610,000; distributed from mint 50,000.
Carson City: In mint July 1, 1895, 5,168,394; Total, 5,168,394; in mint July I, 1896, 5,137,118; distributed from mint 31,276.
Coinage accomplished to date under various acts: February 28, 1878 $378,166,793; July 14,1890 $56,306,876; March 3,1891 (coinage of trade dollars) $5,078,472. [This disposed of 4,987,785 trades.] Total $439,552,14l.
The cost per dollar was of producing coins at the various mints: This information was not the cost per silver dollar but was the cost per dollar of face value comprised of the total-of the coins made, a mixture of dimes, quarters, half dollars, and silver dollars. In fiscal year 1896 at Philadelphia the cost was $0.009 per dollar, or less than a cent, at San Francisco it was $0.011527, or slightly more than a cent, and at New Orleans itwas $0.036564, or nearly four cents.
Miscellany: The various mints were constantly purchasing and receiving obsolete coins. In fiscal year 1896, 183 trade dollars were received at the Philadelphia mint, none at San Francisco, and 6 at New Orleans.