Trying To Get An Idea About B1 Reverse Collectors....

Mike, let's just say if I see one at common money I grab it. So far I have accumulated the following:
V-79 ANACS AU53
V-81 PCGS MS63PL
V-81 PCGS MS63
V-82 Raw AU50
V-84 Raw AU50
V-84A SEGS MS62

B1's aren't that hard to collect in Mint State - they're still fairly easily cherried. 70, the previous rarity, has two-three dozen Mint State examples known already.

85 and 86 will not remain so rare into the future. Too few people are actively searching them to form conclusive rarity opinions, and 80's are seen often enough.

Keep in mind, they still didn't really have the annealing process right at this point - heck, things were changing so fast that B1 coins were only minted for three weeks or so - and I would not be surprised if we haven't seen the last new B1 die. In fact, I'm more surprised that multiple obverses for a given reverse are not yet known.

My only intake on this subject is no one one holds onto a rare abnormality... it means CASH....real cash.....your friends if they have something special...are loosing out...
today something special. tomarrow something common? or what?

I am not familiar with a B1 reverse or the years they occurred.

Could someone give a brief explanation or direct to a site.

Thank you.

This will be somewhat simplified for brevity (as if I could ever be brief ):

The beginning of Morgan dollar production was rather chaotic. The Mint had never tried to produce coins of this size in such huge numbers - the law mandated two million Dollars per month - and troubles were encountered.

The original Morgan die design - the "A" Reverse - had 8 tailfeathers (8TF).



This was the design used on the very first Morgans struck in 1878. It was anatomically incorrect, and there were other problems, so the design was modified into one with only 7 tailfeathers (7TF, the "B" reverse).

Given the time pressure, some 8TF dies were overstruck with the 7TF design. Traces of the 8TF design were still visible on many of these dies, creating what we call 7/8TF Morgans:



This is what we call the B1 Reverse, characterized by parallel arrow fletches and a long nock at the end of the arrow shaft. The 7/8TF dies are not referred to as "B1's" to differentiate them from the B1 dies created from scratch - they're considered a separate variety even though the reverse design is the same.

The B1 reverse we're discussing in this thread:



Further design modifications resulted in the B2 Reverse, where, among other things, the long arrow nock was lost:



The "final" design version, known as the "C" Reverse, changed the arrow fletches:



Now, the punchline: All of these changes happened over the course of less than two months in 1878. The Mint was truly scrambling.

You guys are dynamite.

aladinslamp thank you right on.

Thanks SuperDave.
Great pics and explanations.
That should preserved some where in the archives.
That was a lot of effort.

1st Thank you Dave, That was Like noted, very time and effort consuming, I am sure. Bryan, THIS is what I was hopeing for, a listed collectors set(s)..... I know you appreciate the B1'S and am glad you posted your thoughts and collection stats,Which I must say, is an amazing feat!! Thanks.......

I would enjoy seeing just what other member/collectors really have, Thanks Mike.

Bryan, I believe you are correct in that while the records indicate one thing, I too believe there will be more "discovery" coins found by the masses searching for just that........As We know some finds are flat out denied by the mint as ever being produced, and the coins keep coming!!! PS, Thanks for sharing the info.