Morgan dollar coin, 1883

The coin

This piece is the 1883 Morgan dollar struck at Carson City. The CC mint mark reads on the reverse, under the wreath and above ONE DOLLAR. The obverse shows Liberty’s profile facing left, in a Phrygian cap, with the band LIBERTY, the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM, thirteen stars, and the date 1883. The reverse carries the eagle with spread wings, arrows and an olive branch, the legend UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, IN GOD WE TRUST, and ONE DOLLAR. George T. Morgan designed both sides. On the type, his initial M sits on the truncation of the neck and in the reverse bow. PCGS numbers the 1883-CC business strike 7144. 7145 is the PL designation, 97145 the DMPL, and 518869 the GSA Hoard attribution. This photograph assigns neither PL, DMPL, nor a VAM, and the piece is not in a GSA holder. Numista lists the type as N# 1492, KM# 110. The published standard is 90% silver and 10% copper, 26.73 g and 38.1 mm, with a reeded edge: those are issue specifications. This example was not weighed or measured, and the edge is outside the frame. The photograph shows lines and marks in the fields. The piece is raw, with no holder. The 1883 with no letter is Philadelphia (PCGS 7142); this mark is CC.

Legends

Obverse

E PLURIBUS UNUM · LIBERTY on the band · thirteen stars · 1883.

Reverse

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · IN GOD WE TRUST · ONE DOLLAR · CC mint mark under the wreath.

History

The United States Mint explains that the Bland–Allison Act of 1878 reauthorized the silver dollar at the weight and fineness of the act of 18 January 1837: 26.73 g and .900 fine. The first Morgan came from Philadelphia in 1878 and, the same year, from San Francisco and Carson City, near the mines of the West. The obverse pairs Liberty with the reverse eagle, which holds arrows and an olive branch. Carson City marked its pieces CC. This record describes the object in the collection; it does not value the issue.

Scarcity and type

PCGS gives 1,204,000 as the mintage of the 1883-CC (7144). That figure is the Carson City coinage for the date, not a census of this example. Greysheet notes that the GSA distributed 755,518 pieces of that date in the Carson City Treasury sale: a hoard-distribution count, not a certified population and not the provenance of this coin, which keeps no GSA holder. PCGS estimates about 700,000 survivors in all grades, 500,000 in MS60 or better, and 34,000 in MS65 or better. Those are expert estimates — they include raw pieces and coins certified by any service — not a certificate count and not a count of this example. This record publishes no price.

Certification

The example is raw, with no NGC, PCGS, or other holder, and with no certification number. This module carries no serial number. The identity of this record is the photographed object — date 1883, CC mint mark, Morgan dollar — not a certificate. The photograph shows lines and marks; it does not settle a third-party authentication, a numerical grade, cleaning, PL, DMPL, or a VAM. The weight and diameter on this record are the issue specifications, not a measurement of this piece. If it is later slabbed, the cert number will replace this note.

Related pieces

Another piece in the United States collection.

• Morgan dollar · Carson City · 1885
• Morgan dollar · San Francisco · 1884
• Gold dollar · United States Mint · 1856
• 2.50 dollars · United States Mint · 1912