The second edition of “A Guide Book of Morgan Silver Dollars, A complete History and Price Guide” was published in paperback on March 31, 2005.
The first chapter discussed the allure and challenges of collecting Morgan dollars and some facts about the history of the Morgan dollar. Although it is only 5 and a half pages long, the first chapter is full of interesting facts. Entering chapter two, the book goes back and looks at the history of dollar coins in general, from Spanish dollars being milled, then the Mint Act of 1792, and how coinage began in the US. There are several paragraphs that discuss the first dollar coins, their popularity or lack thereof, and how the dollar was phased out and replaced with the trade dollar.
The book does a very decent job of describing the events that happened during this time period, such as the hard times for silver companies and the political involvement to help them that ultimately led to the Morgan dollar. Chapters 3 and 4 are packed with excellent information on the Morgan dollar design process and minting process. For a new collector, this is very good information.
Chapter 5 discusses the five, yes, five different mints that produced Morgan dollars, even though the Denver mint only produced Morgan dollars for one year, the year 1921. Chapter five also provides a bit of history on each one. of the mints.
Chapter 6 discusses the various silver dollar hoards discovered long after the dollar’s demise. Some once thought that scare dates were now plentiful as the US Treasury began releasing and selling silver dollars stashed in vaults for years.
Chapter 7 delves into the variety of ways you can collect Morgan dollars. If you’re familiar with Morgan dollars, then you know there are a multitude of ways to collect this coveted coin. Chapter 7 will give you lots of ideas to help you narrow down how you might compile this series.
Chapter 8 deals with ANA’s rating and rating scale. If you’re familiar with scales, then there’s not much that’s new here. Also, this is also where I think the book could improve. There are pictures giving examples for each grade, but like most if not all books on grading, there are only descriptions for MS60 and above. I would have liked to see large images for each MS grade. This would give collectors a clear indication of the impact of bag brands with respect to classification.
Chapter 9 discusses the many varieties within the Morgan series, while Chapter 10 is where the real gist of the book lies. Chapter 10 contains a page for each year and mintage of the entire Morgan Dollar series. Each page contains information on collectible keys, circulation strikes, proof coins, price guide, availability guide, minting and distribution, and varieties. Each page is packed with very specific information for each date and mint. In addition, there is a summary for each year that looks at things happening at that time and other general information about Morgan dollars for that year. Without a doubt, this type of information took years to compile and is invaluable to the serious Morgan Dollar collector.
Chapter 10 is the longest and provides incredible detail for each and every year and mint of the Morgan series. There is a page for each date/mint that provides information such as optimum collection grade, PCGS population (although it becomes obsolete as more coins are certified), estimated field population, total mintages, varieties, etc. Also, there is a page for each year that looks at collecting and what life was like during that particular year. Altogether, chapter 10 is for the collector of the Morgan Dollar series.
In short, whether you are a Morgan Dollar series collector, or just a beginner, this is a must have book. The information provided in this book is incredible and provides the collector with incredible information for collecting one of the most popular coins collected today.
This book gets 4 1/2 stars.
If this book had enlarged images of Mint State type coins, I would have rated a 5. Since the Morgan dollar is the most desired in the Mint State, it baffles me why no rated images are provided.
