What Is The Obsession With Morgan Dollars With So Many New And Intermediate Coin Collectors?

For me a large part of the appeal is the historical significance associated with them. The CC dollars take us back to the times of the wild west. You hold one in your hand and wonder if Wild Bill Hikok tossed this into a poker pot. Then they take you thru the turn of a century and the great industrial revolution of the early 1900's. I find the design elements quite striking and what is not to love about a large heavy silver coin?

Mine, too.

All three are true, but I think #3 is really driving these.

I love Morgan dollars - they just have everything!

- an English designer who trained at The Royal Mint
- fascinating historical background (Anna Williams etc)
- associations with the Wild West: dealers in the UK heavily promote this!
- many dates available cheaply in EF / UNC, much cheaper than UK crowns of the same period
- can be collected by date, by mintmark and by VAM, so suitable for beginners or advanced collectors
- big and made of silver
- attractive design

My first Morgan dollar was an 1882-O that I was given as a teenager by some American friends of my parents'. I now have a complete date run from 1878 to 1904 (with at least one coin from each mint) and all three mintmarks for 1921. None cost me more than £100 and several were less than £10. The condition varies from AG to Uncirculated but for me that's part of the charm. I may start adding major varieties and mintmarks to my collection in the future.

For those who understand, no explanation is necessary; for those who do not understand, no explanation is possible.

Technically 1932, AFAIK, but as that series 1) replaced the previous type, as opposed to being supplementary to it, and 2) lasted so long after the original commemoration date, it usually isn't counted as a commemorative.

(Of course the 1909 series has about as much claim to being commemorative as the 1932 series, but to the best of my knowledge the 1932 issue was intended to be explicitly commemorative and the 1909 issue wasn't.
And IIRC a few of the commemorative coin bills did propose a replacement of the previously circulating type, instead of supplementary issues - it's just that [aside from the 1932 case] none of those passed.)

At present I prefer the Peace dollars but my reasons are more personal. I got into coin collecting shortly after I got hooked on metal detecting. My father had some loose coins and notes he had accumulated over the years and among them was a Peace dollar. I asked how he came across it and was told my deceased grandfather must have obtained it when they were in America during the 50s. Having been born in 1970, silver circulation coinage in Australia had been consigned to history for several years so I had never handled silver coins. I did have some 50% silver pre-decimal coins from metal detecting but they were small compared to the Peace dollar. It was the first big silver coin I had handled and I loved the feel of it. That was several years ago and last month I finally obtained at melt value another Peace dollar for my collection plus a Morgan dollar. Both Peace dollars, although not top condition, still have a fair amount of detail whereas the Morgan dollar has had a very hard life with the bust and eagle just outlines and pretty unattractive. Maybe if I get a better condition Morgan it might sway me to the Morgan camp but I have a feeling higher grade Morgans don't come cheap.