Tag Archives: Condition rarities

Melted, Bagged and VAM Morgans

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If you collect Morgan dollars, you will have to memorize all dates and rarities because unlike Wheat cents and other common denominations, low mintage may not be the sole factor of value. You will have to factor these irregularities:

  1. Dates and numbers melted. The 1918 Pittman Act authorized the melting of up to 350 million silver dollars to support American mining interests and to provide silver bullion to Great Britain, facing a monetary crisis during  World War I.
  2. Bags of Morgans released in last century. Millions of Morgans found in U.S. Treasury vaults in the 1960s and sold to the public at face value; dollar sales in the 1970s of leftover silver dollars, many of which bore “CC” mintmarks; and hundreds of thousands of “Redfield” hoards released to the market in 1976.
  3. Condition rarities. The reasons are many, but people neglected to save some uncirculated dates with high or reasonable mintages, meaning any found in low-mint state and above command ultra rarity prices.
  4. Different die varieties (catalogued as VAMs). This is an acronym for Van Allen and Mallis who cataloged varieties of U.S. Morgan and Peace dollars based on die markers distinguishing such features as doubling, die breaks, or clashed dies. If you are unfamiliar with VAMs, see Proxiblog’s “VAMs for Beginners.“

Silver Spot Price

Before we discuss the above Morgans, we should mention that the high price of silver in mid 2025 has increased values of all silver coins, especially silver dollars. At this writing, the spot price for silver is $90. You can expect that to fluctuate in the months and years ahead. (If you read this at a later date, that spot price will take on new meaning.)

So if you’re interested in silver melt value of your Morgan, do not think a cull has $90 of silver in it.

FORMULA FOR SILVER MELT PRICE: Morgans are 90% silver containing 0.7734 troy ounce. Multiply silver price by 0.7734: $69.60. Dealers usually pay 10% under melt. So that Morgan now is worth $62.

But there is another wrinkle. With the high price of silver, how many Morgan dollars are being melted?

Now the law gets murky. You can melt silver coins for personal use, such as making jewelry. Melting silver coins for profit is not permitted because you will be fraudulently defacing or destroying currency, which is illegal under U.S. law. (Melting cents and nickels is illegal because their metal content can exceed their face value.) But that doesn’t mean people aren’t melting their culls and even valuable silver coins.

To give you an example of what is occurring behind the scenes, silver refineries are not paying the spot price because of skyrocketing financing costs, massive backlogs, and disruptions in the supply chain, making it uneconomical for them to process and refine silver. Refiners are overwhelmed with high-volume scrap, leading to halts in purchases, lower offers, and a growing gap between the physical and “paper” market price. This has created a “liquidity crisis” and a “physical freeze” in the market. 

Now back to numismatics.

Melted Morgans

A handy resource about melted Morgans is Q. David Bowers’ “A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars.” This comprehensive guide provides detailed information on the history, grading, and collecting of these coins. It covers every date and mintmark from 1878 to 1921 and includes melting estimates for each.  

You will have to read this work or consult other guides, such as PCGS CoinFacts, which provides survival estimates for each year and mintmark (presumably factoring in the number melted).

Common date Morgans produced before 1904 were affected by the Pittman Act, while key-date coins were largely spared; however, in doing this, the Mint made those common date coins more valuable, because so many were melted.

That’s why you cannot look only on mintages for value. You will have to memorize. This article will help in that endeavor.

Bagged Morgans

Bags of Morgans released to the public drastically changed the values of Carson City dollars and other dates previously considered condition rarities, with the most famous being the 1903-O. Before the 1970s, collectors rarely saw one and considered it an ultra rarity. The exact number of 1903-O Morgan dollars released in bags in the 1960s is unknown, but it was in the hundreds of thousands, possibly over a million. Same goes for Carson City GSA dollars. Rarely were these seen in high mint state; and then, more than 3 million uncirculated ones were sold to the public. So uncirculated Morgans flooded the market, again affecting value.

In other words, you may have a rarity only to learn another hoard has been found or released to the public. Then your rarity is not so much anymore.

Condition Rarities

Top condition rarities include these dates below with images and values from PCGS CoinFacts:

1884-S. Mintage: 3,200,000. People just spent them, so there are precious few in mint state. Value: XF40, $135; MS65: $295,000.

1886-O. Mintage: 10,710,000. Most coins were melted under the Pittman Act. Value: XF40, $100; MS65, $285,000.

1892-S. Mintage: 1,200,000. For some reason, as in the 1884-S, people did not save uncirculated examples and spent them. Value: XF40, $600; MS65, $285,000.

1893-O: mintage, 300,000; 1895-O: mintage, 450,000; and 1895-S, mintage, 400,000. Although they had low mintages, again, people spent them with most surviving coins being circulated. 1893-O: Value: XF40 $950; MS65, $180,000. 1895-O: XF40, $900; MS65 $325,000. 1895-S: XF40, $1,900; MS65, $22,500.

1896-O. Mintage: 4,900,000. Many of these coins were melted so that high-grade pieces are scarce. Value: XF40, $85; MS65, $200,000.

1901-P. Mintage: 6,962,000. A relatively small number of these coins entered circulation, and the majority are thought to have been melted. Higher-grade examples are difficult to find. Value: XF40, $250; MS65, $325,000.

VAM Morgans

These are some of the most desired Morgan VAMs with images and markers from PCGS CoinFacts.

1887-P “Alligator Eyes,” VAM12A.

1888-O “Scarface,” VAM 1B.

1888-O “Hot Lips,” VAM4.

1891-CC “Spitting Eagle,” VAM3

1901-P “Shifted Eagle,” VAM3.

While these have been labeled the most popular, you should know the top 100 VAM Morgans, compliments PCGS.

This article has discussed the factors that make some Morgans more valuable than others. If you continue to study each date and mintmark in the series, in time, you will be able to make prudent purchases and, on occasion, score big.

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How to Collect Coins

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Have you stopped viewing the news because you no longer can tell fact from factoid? Social media is to blame. People no longer want information; they seek affirmation. Same with coin collecting, and click-baiters on YouTube, TikTok, eBay and Etsy provide it.

This post is about how to be a coin collector. Memorize this mantra: The value of the hobby is the hobby.

Stop Searching Minor Errors

A prime example is the 1969-D floating roof cent or get-rich-quick ones that have long been discovered, such as:

Only fools will buy the ridiculous 1969-D floating roof cent below. That is not a mint error. The floating roof mirage only means the U.S. Mint continued to strike coins with a worn die. But hucksters on eBay will sell you one for hundreds of dollars.

Here’s an example of a face value cent:

Here is a hyped value example on eBay. No one will buy this coin for that astronomical price; but newbies will look for one (they aren’t difficult to find) and then believe they have struck it rich.

Buy the Red Book

The Red Book’s official name in A Guide Book of United States Coins. It not only contains all the denominations, errors, varieties, histories, and so much more–it also explains the hobby in much greater detail than this post. See my video about the Red Book:

Choose a Precious Metal

These are coins made of gold, silver, palladium and platinum, all available as bullion from the U.S. Mint:

Yes, these coins can be expensive, especially gold and platinum; but silver is reasonable with spot prices typically rising over time. These are investments that you might collect and leave as legacy for your heirs.

Choose a Denomination

Here are the most popular coins to collect:

  • Morgan Dollar (1878-1904/1921): 90% silver and 10% copper. Large coin reminiscent of American culture and history, weighing 26.73 grams.
  • Franklin Half Dollar (1948-63): 90% silver and 10% copper. An easy series to collect with affordable key dates, challenging hobbyists to replace coins with ever higher uncirculated ones.
  • Washington Quarter (1932-64): 90% silver and 10% copper. Like the Franklin Half Dollar, a relatively easy series to collect with only one affordable key date (1955), all still available across the Sheldon grading spectrum. Moreover, this denomination has an additional designation, full bell lines, knowledge of which can bring substantial values.
  • American Silver Eagle: (1986-): 99.9% silver. Among the most beautiful of designs by Adolph A. Weinman, portraying the the Liberty Goddess on the obverse originally used on Walking Liberty Half Dollars (1916-1947).

Browse the Red Book for a series that speaks to you, looking at first for easy ones to assemble, such as the Kennedy Half dollar (1964-) and then more challenging ones, such as the Mercury Dime (1916-45).

This Mercury Dime series has expensive key dates and desirable varieties and errors. For instance, the 1916-D has a mintage of a mere 264,000. Even lower mint state examples command values above $1000. And then there are these valuable errors, 1942 over 41 and 1942 over 41-D, and regular/micro mint mark varieties in the 1945-S example, also depicted below:

Collect Year, Mint Mark and Varieties Sets

After you choose a denomination, or several, start collecting by year (year date set). For instance, it is relatively easy to collect every year of the Mercury dime, substituting the easily found 1916 dime for the rare 1916-D dime. If you are more ambitious, try for the entire set (all years, mint marks). Then go for the entire set with major varieties (1942/1 error, 1945-S/micro S).

The beauty here is that once you have a set, or nearly one, you can begin replacing lower grade examples with higher ones, selling the lower ones to finance the higher ones. That is the joy of collecting.

Key Date Sets

These key dates are among the most difficult to collect because prices, such as the aforementioned 1916-D Mercury Dime, are so expensive. But over time you can amass a collection of the most desirable key dates and varieties, such as these:

  • Indian Head Cent: 1877, 1888/7
  • Lincoln Cent: 1909-S VDB, 1914-D, 1922-D Missing D Strong Reverse, 1955 Doubled Die Obverse
  • Two-Cent: 1864 Small Motto, 1867 Doubled Die Obverse
  • Three-Cent Silver: 1855
  • Three-Cent Copper Nickel: 1883, 1884, 1885
  • Shield Nickel: 1880, 1883/2
  • Liberty Head Nickel: 1885, 1886, 1912-S
  • Buffalo Nickel: 1914/3, 1916 Doubled Die Obverse, 1918/7-D, 1926-S, 1935 Doubled Die Reverse, 1937-D 3 Legs.
  • Mercury Dime: 1916-D, 1919-D, 1919-S, 1942/1, 1942/41-D
  • Roosevelt Dime 1968-S No S, 1975-S No S
  • Barber Quarter Dollar: 1896-S, 1901-S1913-S
  • Standing Liberty Quarter: 1916, 1918/7-S, 1927-S
  • Washington Quarter Dollar: 1932-D, 1932-S, 1937 Doubled Die Obverse, 1950-D/S
  • Morgan Dollar: 1889-CC, 1893-S, 1895-S, 1903-O (not to mention VAMs, varieties and major errors).
  • Peace Dollar: 1928, 1934-S (not to mention VAMs and varieties.

You can strive for key dates across one denomination or one of the dates from each of the above series. In any case, these will always be in demand and you can collect ever higher grades, creating a substantial investment.

Know Numismatic Terms

If you are planning a trip abroad to a country with a different language, you buy a tour guide book, use AI for translations, or just memorize the operative phrases before you travel. You need to do the same with coin collecting.

How many of these numismatic terms do you know?

If you do not know terms, please consult this illustrated glossary so that you not only know the definitions but also can identify them because of photos.

Other Features

There is so much more to the hobby than what I have suggested here. You have to learn how to grade, understanding the Sheldon scale (beyond the scope of this article). Also, many coins are condition rarities, common in lower grades and rare in higher ones, such as the 1884-S Morgan Dollar. Some coins have destinations that increase value, such as full bell lines, full bands, full steps, etc.

See this post for more examples.

You also might want to visit these popular Proxiblog articles:

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You can find more information about types, varieties, errors, grading, bidding and buying in Coin News Updated: The Essential Guide to Online Bidding. Please consider buying or gifting the work for a friend, as it underwrites this hobbyist blog. Thank you.