1879-S $1 Morgan Silver Dollar PCGS MS65

David Bowers writes that, "The best struck pieces [of Morgan dollars] are those made at San Francisco." He adds, "The majority of pieces...have excellent eye appeal," and that the 1879-S dollars are "[u]sually very well struck on obverse and reverse. Typically very brilliant and very lustrous..." PCGS has graded 28,402 as MS65 with 11,837 finer. Collectors Universe prices this issue at $215.00 in MS65.

In addition to being quite desirable, it is also reasonably priced and would be a great addition to your collection. The enormous mintage of 9,110,00 was undertaken due to the passage of the Bland-Allison Act of February 1878, which compelled the Treasury to obtain between $2 million and $4 million worth of silver bullion each and every month. All of that silver was to be produced into silver dollars.

George T. Morgan, who designed the beautiful design on the silver dollar that was produced from 1878-1904 and again in 1921. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.

Morgan dollar specialist Wayne Miller, who has been called the 'King of Silver Dollars,' writes in The Morgan and Peace Dollar Textbook: "From 1879 to 1883, the only silver...coin struck at the San Francisco mint was the silver dollar. Apparently a less stressful production schedule enabled mint personnel to concentrate on making the silver dollars of these years among the finest this country has ever produced. Although over nine million 1879-S dollars were coined, nearly all uncirculated specimens are well struck, lustrous, and relatively free of surface abrasions."