Monster Toned Morgans

When Morgan Dollars were minted, they were placed in canvas bags which contained sulfur in them. Contrary to what most people think, these coins which are generally associated with the Wild West, were not as popular back then as they are now. In recent times the Susan B. Anthony Dollars were highly unpopular due their small size. People would confuse them for quarters and the dollar coins of today are yellow so that one can discriminate better between them.

 

Between 1981 and 1999 the us government had stockpiles of Anthony Dollars since nobody wanted them. When the Morgan Dollars were being minted, cowboys, didn't really want a heavy bag of dollars weighing down their horse. Hence, many bags of dollars were being stockpiled into vaults, which is the reason we have so many high grade Morgans available to collectors as compared to other denominations of coins from that era. Naturally, the coins towards the back of the vaults were minted earlier and as more were minted they were placed in front of the older ones. Eventually, as they were being slowly removed from the vaults to be placed in circulation.

This resulted in a couple of things. First, since silver dollars weren't being minted from 1905 to 1920 the stockpiles were being slowly depleted. The later dates were the ones at the front of the vaults so they would be grabbed before the bags of coins in the back with earlier dates. Because of this many of the earlier Morgans are less expensive in mint condition than the later ones of which there are relatively fewer uncirculated examples. Second, the coins in bags placed towards the back were exposed to the sulfur in the canvas for a longer duration.

Exposure of the Morgan dollars with the sulfur in the bags provides the right conditions for beautiful coloration when the silver oxidizes. Decades ago, these toned coins were unpopular. Bright white Morgans were more highly desired. Many of the toned coins were dipped to remove the beautiful rainbows and return them to their original white color. Because of that, heavily toned Morgans are difficult to find and have become highly sought out by collectors.

Toned coins are generally categorized by how heavily the toning is and also by the color scheme. Morgans that don't have much toning would be referred to low or medium grade toning whereas heavily colored Morgans would be referred to as high or Monster toned coins. These high and Monster toned Morgans are much rarer than low or medium grade toned coins that some collectors are willing to offer a premium over the listed value. This allows for individual specimens of more common dates to fetch a little extra cash.

Shown below is the reverse of an 1881-S PCGS MS-66 Morgan with some nice coloration in this lower toned example. The photo doesn't quite do justice to the colors seen on the lower left but at least one can see how the color progresses from yellow to darker, bright, colors with further toning.

Further toning of the surface renders a much more beautiful coin, as seen by another example of an 1881-S PCGS MS-66 Morgan Dollar, shown below. This coin has nearly all the characteristics expected of a Monster Toned Morgan. However, because the heavy coloration is on the reverse and not the obverse, this would likely qualify as a High Toned Morgan rather than a Monster. The obverse does have a beautiful green sheen to it but the bulls-eye target toning on the reverse is much to be desired.