Initially, the coin was created to benefit the silver mining companies when Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act that effectively dictated the number of coins produced each month. The law artificially inflated the price of silver to satisfy the mining interests. Hundreds of millions of these coins never went into circulation and were stored in cloth bags containing 1,000 coins each. The Treasury Department then stored the bags in government vaults. In 1918 a total of 270,232,722 coins were melted, but many coins remained inside the government vaults for decades. In the 1970s, the United States government decided to sell these coins to collectors. Coin experts were brought in to sort the coins by value. A bidding process was used were the highest bids received the most valuable coins. The coins were placed in a special holder and are prized by Morgan dollar collectors today. Although the mint produced Proof coins in some years, not all coins that have a cameo contrast are considered Proof coins. Coins that have a Deep Mirror Proof-Like (DMPL) finish were made for circulation. Many circulated coins are worth only their bullion value. However, some Morgan dollars are very valuable. Given that Morgan Silver dollars are one of the more popular collecting series of United States coins, it is also one of the most counterfeited series. Chinese counterfeits are proliferating coin collections everywhere. Therefore, you can use the following detailed specifications to help you authenticate your Morgan silver dollars.
