1882 Morgan Silver Dollar - O over S - Certified NGC Genuine

The Morgan Dollar is America’s most sought after coin because it hits the collector’s tri-fecta: It was the largest silver coin ever issued for circulation in the United States, it was also the longest tenured silver coin in the United States Mint history, and has one of the best “stories” of any collector’s coin around. Known to many a collector as the ‘True’ of the “Wild West”, many famous outlaws throughout American frontier history made their living by robbing banks and trains for their bags of Morgan Dollars…Who would have thought they would be even more popular almost 100 years later!

Over it's 28 year history The Morgan Dollar was struck at 5 different US Mints: The Philadelphia (no mint mark), Denver (D – 1921 only), New Orleans (O), San Francisco (S) and the fabled Carson City (CC). What many forget is the fact that not all Morgan Dollars had a single mint mark...sometimes they almost had two! This wasn’t on purpose of course, but it did result in one of the most sought after error coins in United States Mint History!

How did it all happen? Well in 1882 the San Francisco Mint sent three, lightly used coinage dies to New Orleans to aid in their growing production. When the dies were received, the employees at the New Orleans Mint were to remove the “S” mint mark and replace it with their New Orleans “O”. To get production started as soon as possible, they cut corners and re-stamped the die with the new “O” mint mark over the top of the old “S”. So if you look at the mint mark below the eagles tail feathers on the reverse...there it is: A accidental dual mint mark coin!

How many survived? With only 3 dies causing these errors, even experts acknowledge that it wasn't many. What we do know is that in 1918 the Pittman Act authorized over 270 Million Morgan Dollars be melted (over half of the total population of all mints combined), as well as there being an additional 40 million melted for the Manhattan project in the 1940’s, and a significant number being melted again in 1979-80 when silver hit $50 an ounce!

Simply put this coin is in a league of its own. Not only is it a coveted error coin within the Morgan Dollar series (the top vintage collector’s coin produced by the U.S. Mint), but it is also certified as real and authentic by the graders over at NGC, of one America’s oldest independent certification services!