I started my life as crisp and fresh as the bloom on a rose. There were just a million like me from Philadelphia. I was tucked away in a safe place, and I expected to still be there today, brand new. Then, the housing bubble burst and I was tossed into circulation. Things got worse in 1918 when most of us were thrown into the melting pot to get our silver to win World War I. It happened again in World War II. Today, almost none of us are left in Extremely Fine and About Uncirculated condition, and we could all be melted tomorrow to get our silver. Who am I? An 1892 Morgan Silver Dollar. Please. Save me before I disappear forever!
In 1845, George T. Morgan was born in Bilston, Staffordshire, England. During his adolescence and early adulthood, he was educated at the Birmingham Art School, and then was granted a national scholarship to the South Kensington Art School. He continued his education at the South Kensington School for two years where he received numerous awards and prizes. While in England, Morgan was employed by the…
Nearly everybody with even a passing interest in silver dollars has come across a reference to the Pittman Act of 1918. But, beyond the dry, historical reference to a bill passed over ninety years ago lurks something huge. Something that forever changed the face of coin collecting. Something that, to this very day, impacts each and every Morgan Silver Dollar that has survived. In 1918, Great Britain…
