We read and hear that various fads and swings of popularity come and go within numismatics.  One that appears to be eternal, or else on a very long swing, is the popularity of Morgan and Peace silver dollars.  It would be a shock to attend any show anywhere and not find a single dealer with a display case of better Morgan and Peace dollars.  These coins seem as present as the air we breath.  But if you are just starting out, or perhaps are looking at silver dollars again, for some new angle or way to collect, why not look at which Morgan and Peace dollar could form twin “crown jewels” in your collection, without draining your personal, royal treasury?

            First, let’s find the date within each series that is the most common.  For the Morgan silver dollars, that title goes to the 1921 by a long, long way, with a whopping total of 44,690,000 coins.  The second place holder is pretty far behind, the 1889, with an official figure of 21,726,811 coins.  Narrowly in third place is the 1921-S, with 21,695,000 to its name.  All of these are remarkably common date dollars.

            When it comes to the Peace silver dollars, the 1922, in what is now called the “normal relief,” is the clear winner, with 51,737,000 coins.  The second place position belongs to the 1923, with 30,800,000 total.  Third place for this series would be the 1923-S, with 19,020,000 coins.  By any count, all six of the dates and mint marks we just mentioned are out there in abundance, waiting for some savvy collector. 

            Let’s set a limit on what we define as savvy -- how about, unwilling to spend more than $100 for a single, eye-catching silver dollar?  That means that our twin crown jewels should not set us back more than $200 total.

            Well, right about now, the 1921 Morgan costs $60 in MS-64, or $185 in MS-65.  It looks like we have a quick winner in the MS-64.  Let’s keep that in mind -- and, by the way, when buying coins with a price difference like this, let’s keep the idea of buying only encapsulated coins in mind as well.  The 1889 is an $85 coin in MS-64, and a $400 coin in MS-65.  It appears we have another one pegged.  The 1921-S is an $85 coin in MS-63, and a $200 coin in MS-64.  Hmmm, perhaps the San Francisco Morgans didn’t strike up as well that year, or perhaps the price simply reflects collectors’ collective love of all coins with that ‘S’ mint mark.  But no matter, we have a third possibility.

            As to Peace silver dollars, the 1922 is a $60 coin in MS-64 and a $200 item in MS-65.  The 1923 comes in at the exact same two prices.  And the 1923-S rounds us out with $80 in MS-63, and $400 in MS-64.  Again, it looks like that ‘S’ carries a premium around with it.

            Okay, all is said and done, right?  We’ve got two handsome looking coins, possibly with some Mint luster still on them, for considerably less than $200.  Should that be the end of our search?  Of course not! Now that we have an established price zone, let’s see what can be had for the same dollars, but that comes with a much lower mintage total.  We probably aren’t going to uncover a great sleeper coin in either series -- meaning some coin that is grossly under valued, and just waiting to be discovered -- but we may discover some dates and mint marks within these silver dollar series that do qualify as a better value.

            Looking again at the Morgan dollars, and reading line by line through the major price guides, we find first that there are a lot of lines.  For a series that was only made for less than thirty years, and then for one final ‘hurrah’ year, there certainly are a lot of mint marks and major varieties from which to choose.  But, there are also quite a few in the $60 - $100 zone.  Concentrating just on those, we find the two that qualify as the least common are the 1904-O, which has 3,720,000 coins to its tally, and the 1897 which posts 2,822,731 to its sum.  Both of those totals are still in the millions, which means they don’t really even qualify as scarce.  But both of these coins cost $80 in MS-64, and are several times less common than the highest mintage dates with which we started.  Not bad.  Not bad at all.

            Undertaking the same exercise for the Peace dollars lands us with two rather intriguing numbers.  First, the 1925 has a total of 10,198,000 coins tacked to it, yet costs $65 in MS-64.  The 1926 has the even lower number 1,939,000 as its total, and a price tag of $100 in MS-63.  As with the Morgans, these are not rare dates, but they are several times less common than the highest of the high.  So again, not bad at all.

            With this string of dates and numbers, what does it mean if you are going out there, dollars firmly in hand, perhaps to the next big ISNA show, and you want to land yourself two good looking silver dollars?  It means you can do so for less than the $200 ceiling we set.  It also means: don’t jump at the first coin you see.  The most common dates establish a basis from which to price all of the others.  Mercifully, there are some dates that have far smaller mintages than the most common coins, and yet where the prices do not reflect the difference.  This doesn’t mean the less common ones are rare coins.  All the mintage totals we just mentioned are above a million coins, and that’s still a lot.  But the prices we’ve seen mean that a collector who shows a bit of patience may be rewarded with a couple of sharp looking coins. 

            Your own crown jewels may not become the stuff of legends, but they can become the center pieces of a beautiful collection.  One good looking Morgan, right next to one good looking Peace dollar can be a real eye popper.  Good luck.  Find them.  Buy them.  Enjoy them. 

 Mark Benvenuto, ISNA R-2327