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Philadelphia Important to Morgan Dollar Story(con't)

All were released to circulation and thus are available to various degrees. They also would appear in bags from the Treasury over a long period. Of the group, the final reverse of 1879 may well be tougher than current prices suggest.
The other Philadelphia dollar of the 1870s was the 14,806,000 mintage 1879. A coin with such a high mintage should be available today, unless it was heavily melted as a result of the Pittman Act, which in 1918 saw the melting of just over 270 million silver dollars. Some might have been melted, but the 1879 is still easily found as bags containing them were paid out of the Treasury vaults for decades.
By 1890 the required Morgan dollar production was in full swing and the dollar was being used heavily in the West. That was not the case in the rest of the country, especially the, East where bank notes were replacing coins in upper denominations. The 1880 Morgan from Philadelphia had another large mintage, 12,600,000 pieces, from many different dies. As a result the quality of the 1880 varies widely, with the main point being they are available. Bag after bag emerged from the Treasury through the 1950s. Even though there was little numismatic interest over the period, the sheer numbers mounted up, making the 1880 available today.
Much the same could be said of the 1881, which continued the pattern of high mintages at 9,163,000. Even if some were melted and others weakly struck, the sheer quantity produced resulted in the 1881 being available today.
The 1882 should be the same with a mintage of 11,100,000, but the 1882 while available is a date that is known for bagmarks. In addition its quality ranges from well struck to lightly structure and that makes any 1882 a more challenging coin to find in truly top quality than might be expected.
In an era of available dollars, the 12,290,000-mintage 1883 is one of the most available. In addition to its large mintage, the 1883, while possibly melted in some numbers in the Pittman Act melting, just kept appearing from everywhere. The famous Continental-Illinois Bank Hoard reportedly had over a dozen bags, and if that was not enough the Treasury kept releasing bags as well. In the end, while frequently poorly struck, the 1883 remains an available date.
You can say much the same for the rest of the dates of the 1880s. In every case the Philadelphia mintage was large. With little commercial demand at the time, dates like the 1884 or 1888 would simply sit in vaults, being slowly paid out when demand arose. Of course, new supplies kept coming faster than demand and as a result when the Pittman Act melting did take place the Philadelphia dates of the 1880s were logical ones to have been melted in some numbers. Even with the melting there would still be plenty to be released later, and that saw additional supplies of many dates right up to the final bag releases in 1964. As a result, a complete run of Philadelphia dates from the 1880s is easily assembled today, but check care fully as coins can vary significantly in quality. With the heavy mintages there were weak strikes and assorted varieties, which can make the group more interesting and more difficult than might be assumed.
The 1890s started very much like the 1880s ended. The 1890, mintage of 16,802,000, is another of the available dates although it is well known for light strikes and dull luster. In fact, the 1890 is one of the real sleepers in grades above MS-65 as there are virtually none. Bowers sums up the situation well in his book, saying of the 1890, "If you: want a nice one buy a proof."
The 1891 is available, but if you look at the 8,693,556 mintage you will notice it was down slightly. That would be a sign of things to come. Vaults all over the country were filling up with Morgan dollars and even though the Congress would pass the Sherman Silver Purchase act to continue Morgans as the Bland-Allison Act expired, the purchasing provisions of the Sherman Silver Purchase Act would be quickly repealed and that would basically spell the end of the large Morgan dollar mintages and the beginning of some tough dates, even from Philadelphia.
The 1892 is the beginning of the trend. The 1892 had a mintage of just 1,036,000, far lower than any previous date from Philadelphia. The low mintage caused some interest and for many years the 1892 was not readily available. Some probably suspected it was melted, and while that might be true, in the 1960s the 1892 suddenly appeared in some numbers. With weak strikes in many cases, the 1892 is seen as slightly below average in quality and despite some saving from the 1960s bags, the supply of the 1892 has never been very strong. That is especially true if you want an example in a grade above MS-65, where only a few are known.

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