Morgan dollar coin, 1883

The coin

This piece is an 1883 Morgan dollar struck at Philadelphia. The obverse shows Liberty facing left, in a Phrygian cap with cotton and wheat, the band LIBERTY, and the legend E PLURIBUS UNUM; below, the date 1883 among thirteen stars. The reverse carries the eagle with spread wings, arrows and an olive branch, IN GOD WE TRUST above the bird, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA on the arc, and ONE DOLLAR under the wreath. There is no letter under the bow: Philadelphia does not mark its Morgans. PCGS numbers the business strike with no mint mark 7142. The type is 900-fine silver, 26.73 g and 38.10 mm, with a reeded edge: those are issue standards, not a weight or a caliper reading of this example. The photographs do not show the edge. The type carries an M for Morgan on the neck truncation and on the reverse bow; these photographs do not show that letter clearly enough to record it. No VAM variety is assigned. PCGS lists VAM-10, Sextupled Stars, among the varieties of the date, in the Top 100 set; these photographs do not establish it. PL and DMPL are not assigned either. The piece is raw, with no holder. The photographs show scratches and contact marks on Liberty, the fields, and the eagle, together with dark patches. That is not a numerical grade, and it does not confirm authenticity. Prior cleaning or polishing remains an inference: these photographs are not enough to assert either.

Legends

Obverse

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

Reverse

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA · IN GOD WE TRUST · ONE DOLLAR · no mint mark under the bow.

History

The coinage act of 1873 dropped the standard silver dollar. On 28 February 1878 Congress overrode the veto and passed the act that authorizes it again, known as Bland-Allison. George T. Morgan engraved the type. Philadelphia struck the series with no mint mark. The 1883 date falls in that mint’s high-mintage stretch, under the monthly silver-purchase mandate. PCGS (7142) and Numista (N# 1492) publish 12,290,000 as the circulation mintage. Numista lists 1,039 proofs apart. The photographed example shows surface marks and is recorded as a circulation strike, not a proof. The Pittman Act of 1918 authorized melting Treasury silver dollars; that melt explains, across the series, why a high mintage and the published survival do not match. The 1883-CC, the 1883-O, and the 1883-S are other pieces. This record publishes no price.

Scarcity and type

PCGS CoinFacts (7142) publishes 12,290,000 as the circulation mintage of the 1883 Philadelphia dollar. Numista gives the same figure on the line with no mint mark and lists 1,039 proofs apart. PCGS estimates 3,000,000 survivors in all grades, 350,000 in 60 or better, and 17,000 in 65 or better. Those are expert estimates — they include raw pieces and coins certified by any service — not a certificate census and not the state of this example. The three categories overlap; they are not added together. Across the series, PCGS places the date at rarity R-1.0 in all grades: an ordinary issue. None of this fixes the grade of this piece. No price is published. The 1883-O, the 1883-CC, and the 1883-S are other coinages.

Certification

The example is raw, with no PCGS, NGC, 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 and no mint mark under the bow — not a certificate. The scratches, the marks, and the dark patches show in the photographs; they do not confirm authenticity, a prior cleaning, or a numerical grade. No VAM, PL, or DMPL is assigned. The weight and diameter on this record are the type standards, 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 · Carson City · 1883
• Morgan dollar · San Francisco · 1887
• Morgan dollar · San Francisco · 1884