The World's Most Popular Coin

By Les Fox
PCGS Dealer # 2032 - ANA Life Member #1331
Since writing this guide, I have decided that the title of "World's Most Popular Coin" should be shared by all of the coins mentioned. As to the world's most beautiful coins, there is absolutely no question that the St. Gaudens gold coins of 1907-1933 are the most artistically designed American coins since the late 1700's. They are also the most fascinating series.

There are many contendersfor the title of the "World's Most Popular Coin." The Lincoln Cent, the longest running series in U.S. Numismatic history, will celebrate its 100th birthday in 2009.Did you know that collectors have paid over $100,000 for a Lincoln Cent,more gemonlyknown as "pennies"?(A British unit of coinage.) I remember when the new LincolnMemorial reversewas released in 1959, replacing the Wheat Ears (or Wheaties) design after 50 years. (In 3 years, the "new" reverse will be 50 years old, dividing the Lincoln Cent into two half-century groups.) I was 12 years old when Wheatieswere "retired", like Beanie Babies.People were surprised, and delighted, with the new reverse. Manyfolks who had never collected coins before were suddenly intrigued by the end of an era, and began sorting through their pocket change to begin accumulating hoards of the "old pennies" just in case they were destined to be worth a fortune. (Note: In 2006, unsorted Wheaties are still sold by the pound.) Although legislative proposals have repeatedly tolled the death bell for the U.S. One Cent coin, the lowly penny is still with us, and will probably be around for many years, if not forever. Surveys have shown that people like the familiarity ofwhat they call thepenny.They would feel funny if there were no such thing, even though pennies have begee almost useless in gemerce. In fact, it now costs the U.S. Mint more than a penny to make a penny!
Other candidates for "World's Most Popular Coin" include the new 50 State Quarters (based on sheer numbers), the Buffalo Nickel, the Silver Eagle (which is sort of a monetary coin but really just an ounce of silver with a denomination stamped on it), the Indian Cent / Penny, which I used to find in bank wrapped rolls until the new Lincoln Cents came out, the St. Gaudens $20 Gold Double Eagle (a single "Eagle" was the nickname for a $10 gold piece), andperhaps the Walking Liberty Half Dollar, the prototype for the Silver Eagles. While the case can be made for any of the above coins, and others,being the "most popular", the fact is that none of them gee close to the popularity of the famous "Morgan Silver Dollar" named after its designer, George T. Morgan.
Interestingly, Silver Dollars were never popular as money. Starting in 1794, when less than 2,000 Flowing Hair Silver Dollars were coined, no one really wanted or needed Silver Dollars. They were too bulky, and too heavy, to be carried around. Of course, there was no widely accepted American paper money until after the Civil War. Still, the Silver Dollar was always manufactured for reasons other than everyday financial trading. The first Silver Dollars were minted to show the world that the fledging United States (formerly the British Colonies) was a "real" nation. To prove that you were a real nation meant that you had real money. And not just copper and silver "minor" coinage. To gepete with the "Crowns" of Europe and Mexico, America had to produce a one-ounce silver coin that left a lasting impression on anyone whoobserved its beautyor felt the weight of it in his or her hands. And so was bornthefirst ofseveralAmerican coins produced for "political" purposes. Other such coins include the short-livedTwo Cent Piece (1864-73), the Three Cent Piece, the Twenty Cent Piece, Trade Dollars and $1.00 and $3.00 Gold coins. (The $4 Gold Piece was only an experimental coin, or a "Pattern.") More recently, the U.S. Mint failed to create genuinepublic interest in Eisenhower Dollars, Susan B. Anthony Dollars and Sacagawea Dollars, the last of which many people still believe is made of real gold! Incidentally, the $3.00 Gold coin was allegedly minted to faciliate the purchase of sheets of 100 3-cent stamps. Today, we would need a $39.00 Gold coin to serve that purpose. (Or a credit card.)
In any event, to make a long story short, the most "unpopular" Silver Dollar of all time, during its reign of currency, was the 1878 to 1921 Morgan Dollar, which today enjoys the status of the "World's Most Popular Coin" in 98 different date and mint mark varieties. Back in 1878, Morgan Dollars were minted to serve the silver industry, and are related to the "Crime of '73." (1873). Look it up on Google. By coining approximately an ounce of silver into a $1.00 coin, the price of silver was supported at the $1.00 per ounce level, allowing the Western silver mines to operate profitably and to pay its workers a decent wage, or at least a weekly paycheck. However, by 1918, after politics had eliminated the Morgan Dollar after its last minting in 1904, hundreds of millions of Morgan Dollars were melted under the Pittman Act. Exactly which dates and mint-marks were destroyed remains a mystery, except for the estimates I published in "Silver Dollar Fortune-Telling" back in the early 1980's. Then, amazingly, just three years later, a revised but very similar design was rejuvenated on the 1921 Morgan Dollar, for only one year, which was then replaced by the 1921 Peace Dollar, which was supposed to be a one-year coin gememorating the end of World War I but which wound up being minted until 1935.
Is the Morgan Silver Dollar really the world's most popular coin? As a collector's item, there's no doubt about it, even though the 1933 St. Gaudens Double Eagle holds the world's record price for a single rare coin at $7.6 million, and no Morgan Dollar has yet sold for a million dollars. Check it out. There are more books about Silver Dollars (focusing on the Morgan variety) than about any other series. But more than that, Morgan Dollar lovers are absolutely obsessed with this coin, constantly discovering oddball variations of dates, mintmarks andother minor characteristics. Considering its history, including the U.S. Mint's release of thousands of Silver Dollar bags (including rare dates) at face value in the 1960's, and GSA's liquidation of the Carson City "CC" coinage which made headlines in the 1970's, and the Redfield and Binion hoards, as well asthe number of coins which trade on okay or sell in live public auctions, month after month, year after year, no other coin can hold a candle to the Morgan Silver Dollar in terms of interest and serious acquisition. I know people who have waited 10 years for a certain coin to gee on the market just so they could add it to their collection. I am especially interested in the Morgan Dollars of New Orleans at this time (1879-O to 1904-O) and I highly regemend these coins to collectors of all ages and socio-economic status. Start with a nice 1883-O, 1884-O or 1885-O. You'll soon be hooked.
Les Fox, Author