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Product Information

Q. David Bowers
The following narrative, with minor editing, is from my "Silver Dollars & Trade Dollars of the United States: A Complete Encyclopedia" (Wolfeboro, NH: Bowers and Merena Galleries, Inc., 1993).

Coinage Context

Mintage not needed: In 1903 at the New Orleans Mint, 4.45 million circulation strike silver dollars were minted. Not needed in circulation at the time, most of the coins were stored in vaults. Apparently, only a few were released.

Later, probably during the implementation of the 1918 Pittman Act, millions were melted. In 1929, those remaining at the New Orleans Mint were shipped to storage in a sealed vault in the Philadelphia Mint, where they remained until October 1962.

Numismatic Information

King of the Morgan dollars: Until October 1962 the 1903-O was the most important, most acclaimed, rarest issue in Mint State in the entire Morgan dollar series. Outranking the 1893-S, 1895, and other contenders, the Mint State 1903-O was so rare that it was estimated that fewer than 10 specimens were known to exist in numismatic circles. Indeed, the rarity of the 1903-O in this grade was legendary. Few collectors or dealers had ever seen one, let alone had the opportunity to own one! A few scattered advertisers claimed to have Mint State 1903-O dollars, but these listings were probably window dressing, representing what they might charge if they had coins available, or they may have been AU "sliders." In the then current Guide Book of U.S.Coins in 1962 an Uncirculated 1903-O catalogued at $1,500.00 - the highest price of any Morgan dollar. Yeoman's theory was that most had been melted under the Pittman Act.

This changed in October 1962, when to the great amazement of the numismatic fraternity, a number of bags of Mint State 1903-O dollars came to light, setting off the numismatic equivalent of the California Gold Rush! It is said that the small town of Alma, Michigan was the site of some of the first 1903-O dollar discoveries. The race was on, and the silver dollar market would never be the same again.

The news spread that the 1903-O and other New Orleans silver dollars had been shipped to the Philadelphia Mint in 1929, and had remained in a joint-sealed vault since that time. A generation of distinguished Philadelphia numismatists came and went, without knowledge of their existence in their very backyard! Additional coins came out from hiding in the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., where, for some unexplained reason, they had not been noticed by coin-wise employees earlier.

Hoard coins:

Dozens of bags of 1903-O dollars were released in 1962-1964. Exactly how many coins were involved is not known, and guesses have ranged from 60,000 or so to over 1,000,000. Wayne Miller's estimate is 60,000 to 100,000. Probably, the truth lies somewhere between 60,000 and several hundred thousand. I suggest 200,000 to 350,000. As the 1903-O is rare in worn grades, probably most of the 4.45 million coins originally minted were melted under the Pittman Act.

Reminiscing in The Comprehensive Silver Dollar Encyclopedia, Dean Tavenner said that in Helena, Montana a banker had 1903-O dollars available in quantity by February 1963. The least Dean Tavenner remembers paying for an Uncirculated piece was $7 each, probably in the summer of 1963. He recalled that by November 1975 he sold five rolls for a banker from Dillon, Montana for $2,100 - which amounted to $21 per coin.

Writing in an advertisement in The Numismatist in January 1964, Steve Ruddel told of an unspecified Kansas City dealer who "panicked ... when he got a bag of '03-0s. He soon flooded his local market and got $3 or $4 each. At the same time I had a standing offer of $15,000 a bag and couldn't buy any."

I was first told about the release of 1903-O (and 1898-O and 1904-O) dollars by Harry J

Product Identifiers

Designer
George T. Morgan
eBay Product ID (ePID)
170419362

Product Key Features

Strike Type
Business
Mint Location
New Orleans, New Orleans, Louisiana
Composition
90% Silver, 10% Copper
Year
1903

Dimensions

Weight
26.73g

Additional Product Features

Mintage
445
EDGE
Reeded
Mint
New Orleans
Denomination
$1
PCGS Number
7286
Diameter
38.1mm
Mint Mark
O

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1903-O $1 Morgan Silver Dollar

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À propos de ce produit

Product Information

Q. David Bowers

Product Identifiers

Product Key Features

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Additional Product Features