A Couple Of Morgan Dollar Question.

Interesting discussion. I'll throw out a couple of ideas for consideration. Planchets were produced in different operating conditions from varying sources of silver. Quality control varied from mint to mint as did the environment. In the days before air conditioning, the climate at each facility likely played a role in how the planchets and finished dollars fared. How did all this affect the ultimate "look" of the coins? I can't say for sure, but that along with how, where, and for how long they were stored after striking would also have an effect. The dry climate around Carson City could create different long-term effects that the hot, humid climate around New Orleans and so on.

As others have stated, I believe storage conditions played the major role in how these dollars fared.

I am an obsessed morgan hoarder. I honestly have not noticed that some dates are more commonly found toned than others. I will pay closer attention.

The Philadelphia mint produce all the dies and sent the dies to the other mints, they also produced quality proof Morgan;s. The Philadelphia mint had the equipment and personal to put out quality Morgan's but on business strikes they extended die use as they produced in a typical year more Morgan' s than the other branches.

A strong argument could be made that the Carson City mint produce the highest quality Morgan's coin for coin simply because the number of examples struck per set of dies were much less that the other branches.

I recall reading that the local branches did harden the dies once received, so maybe the SF branch did a little better job of taking care of the dies. The SF mint did produce a lot of quality Morgan's.

The branch that is hard to explain is the Orleans Mint as they had an ongoing issue with quality strikes. My guess is that the Orleans mint turned down the coin press pressure to extend life of the dies. When the coin press pressure is turned down the softness shows up on the coin's high spots. The 1921 Peace dollar is the perfect example of what happens when the coin press pressure is turned down.

Yes, I'm referring to coins with colorful/ attractive toning, and yes, I undrrstand that "beauty is in the eye of the beholder." I also understand that original Morgan dollars are 90% silver and given certain environmental exposure silver tones, but I still maintain that certain dates/mintmarks seem to be much more available in what I deem to be attractive (rainbow) toning than others.

you folks are silly..