page_title: Morgan dollar
section_title: Production
hierarchical_section_title: Morgan dollar / Production
caption_attribution_description: English: 1877 pattern half dollar with design later adopted for the Morgan dollar.
context_page_description: The Morgan dollar was a United States dollar coin minted from 1878 to 1904, and again in 1921. It was the first standard silver dollar minted since the passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, which ended the free coining of silver and the production of the previous design, the Seated Liberty dollar. The coin is named after its designer, United States Mint Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan. The obverse depicts a profile portrait representing Liberty, while the reverse depicts an eagle with wings outstretched. The mint mark, if present, appears on the reverse above the "o" in "Dollar".
  The dollar was authorized by the Bland–Allison Act. Following the passage of the 1873 act, mining interests lobbied to restore free silver, which would require the Mint to accept all silver presented to it and return it, struck into coin. Instead, the Bland–Allison Act was passed, which required the Treasury to purchase between two and four million dollars' worth of silver at market value to be coined into dollars each month.
context_section_description: Production of the coins did not commence until March 11, more than a week after the passage of the Bland–Allison Act. The first acceptable strike, after adjustments to the press, was coined at 3:17 p.m. at the Philadelphia Mint. This piece was given to President Hayes; the second and third were given to Secretary of the Treasury John Sherman and Mint Director Henry Linderman.
  Linderman desired to involve the western mints of San Francisco and Carson City in production in order to help reach the monthly quota necessary under the Bland–Allison Act. Pressure was so great at the Philadelphia Mint that it halted production of all other coins and began operating overtime. Use of the western mints was delayed, however, as all dies were prepared at the Philadelphia Mint, and it was believed that the Western mints did not have the proper equipment to prepare the dies for use. During the second week of production, Linderman pointed out what he called a "slight imperfection" in the dies for the dollar. The reason for the changes was to reduce the relief of the designs and to change the number of tail feathers on the eagle from eight to seven; this was done because all prior United States coinage depicted the bald eagle as having an odd number of tail feathers. The high relief had caused the dies to have a shorter life. Dies were eventually sent to the Western mints, arriving in both San Francisco and Carson City on April 16, 1878. The New Orleans Mint began striking the new silver dollars in 1879.
  The Denver Mint, established in 1906, struck the coins for only one year, in 1921. The mint marks appearing on the coins are none, representing Philadelphia, "CC" for Carson City, "S" for San Francisco, "O" for New Orleans and "D" for Denver. In order to conform to the Coinage Act of 1837, the Morgan dollar contained ninety percent silver and ten percent copper, measured 38.1 millimetres (1.50 in) in diameter and weighed 412.5 grains (26.73 g).
caption: Morgan's design, struck as a half dollar pattern in 1877
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