1878-CC $1 Morgan Silver Dollar GSA Hoard NGC MS64

When you purchase this 1878-CC silver dollar you will own a true relic that evokes the romantic past of our nation: the storied Wild West of silver mines, silver barons, and miners who worked the mines. Close your eyes for a minute and let yourself drift back in time. Saloon doors swing open and the smell of whiskey hangs in the air. You hear a player piano knocking out a popular tune--and the distinctive clang of silver dollars is heard as they are dropped on the wooden bar to pay for a round of drinks.

The Morgan dollar is the most popular classic coin series that collectors crave. And within that series is a subset that everyday collectors and specialists alike cherish: Carson City Morgan dollars in the black GSA (General Services Administration) cases. It was after the famous 'Treasury Releases' of 1962-64, when millions of silver dollars were sold to the public, that the U.S. Treasury discovered a previously unknown massive hoard of mint bags of Carson City silver dollars--over 2.8 million of them--hidden away in Treasury vaults! It was decided to sell these coins under the authority of the GSA in seven mail bid sales from 1972 to 1980.

The year 1878 represents the first year of the Morgan dollar series, as well as the first year of the Carson City subset. Therefore, numismatists have always been attracted to this date and mintmark. However, it is a rare coin, for many of them were paid out over the years by the Treasury department. Numismatic author Q. David Bowers says that between 100,000 and 125,000 of them were sold by the Treasury from the late 1930s up to 1962. Because of that GSA holdings were modest: 60,993--or 2.75% of the original mintage of 2,212,000. That precious remnant was sold during the GSA mail bids of the 1970s.

Silver dollar expert Wayne Miller, who authored The Morgan Dollar and Peace Dollar Textbook, writes, "because most specimens are quite attractive, and since 1878 was the first year of issue of the Morgan dollar series, the 1878-CC is a popular silver dollar..." Bowers tells us, "The lustre is very pleasing on the 1878-CC dollar, usually satiny." Collectors will be happy to discover, according to Miller, that the 1878-CC "is one of the most consistently well struck of all the Morgan dollars."