1880 (S) Morgan Dollar - 80/79

Coin Details

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Description

This is the 1880/79 overdate variety of the 1880-S Morgan Dollar. Dies were expensive, and a serviceable die left over at the end of a year was often kept and re-dated rather than destroyed: the new digits were punched directly over the old ones. The earlier date survives underneath wherever its strokes fall outside the digits punched over it, which is why an overdate is read from the shapes that do not belong to the date as printed. The effect is in the die, so every coin struck from it carries the same remnant in the same position. Any mintage or rarity ranking given below counts the entire issue for this date and mint, not this variety: a variety comes from one die or a few, and how many coins they struck was never separately recorded. Part of the Morgan Dollars 1878-1921 series, the 1880 (S) Morgan Dollar - 80/79 is a dollar from the San Francisco Mint. The 1880-S Morgan Dollar issue as a whole had a mintage of 8.9 million; how many coins carry this variety is unknown. The obverse features Liberty facing left wearing a Phrygian cap adorned with wheat and cotton, encircled by stars and the reverse displays an eagle with outstretched wings clutching an olive branch and arrows, surrounded by a wreath. Struck during the Gilded Age of rapid industrialization and the great silver debates, when monetary policy shaped elections and economic destiny. San Francisco's storied mint, born of the California Gold Rush, has evolved into the primary producer of U.S. proof coins. Struck in 90% silver, 10% copper, weighing 26.73 grams, 38.1 mm in diameter, with a reeded edge. Cataloged as PCGS #7120.