1881 S Morgan Silver Dollar NGC MS64

This San Francisco Mint Morgan Silver Dollar is the most popular of Americas classic coins.   Minted from 1878-1904 and again in 1921, it is a huge coin that was the favorite silver coin of the Wild West because of its large size and massive amount of pure silver. The Morgan Silver Dollar is named after its designer, George T. Morgan, who was an engraver with the U.S. Mint in Philadelphia.   The obverse portrays Lady Liberty wearing a slaves cap (an ancient symbol of freedom) with the word Liberty inscribed on a ribbon.   The reverse features an American eagle holding both the olive branch of peace and arrows of war. This is the largest silver coin ever made for circulation:   it is almost 1-1/2 inches in diameter and it contains over 3/4 ounce of pure silver.   The overall silver purity is the standard .900 pure.   The reason it is so big is that, by law, it had to contain exactly one dollars worth of silver (the price of silver was fixed at $1.29 an ounce during the era of the Morgan Silver Dollar). Due to the massive amounts of silver in each coin, more than 50% of all Morgan Silver Dollars were melted by the U.S. Government in the 1920s to help pay for World War I;   millions more were melted for World War II;   millions more were privately melted in the 1980s when silver reached $50 an ounce;   and millions were destroyed or worn out in circulation between 1878 and the 1920s.   This 1881  Morgan Silver Dollar is graded MS64 - in Mint State condition with four  grades higher than Brilliant Uncirculated, this coin has outstanding eye appeal and retains its full original luster.   Graded and certified by an independent coin grading company. Encapsulated in clear acrylic - comes in a sonically sealed, tamper-resistant acrylic holder.   Just a fraction of all coins remain today and just a fraction of those coins are in original Brilliant Uncirculated condition.   To certify that this is one of the highest graded Morgan Silver Dollars, each one has been independently graded as MS64 by one of the most respected independent coin grading services, NGC.   Coins are graded on a 70-point scale, and MS60 is the standard Brilliant Uncirculated grade so each coin is four  full grades better than a standard Brilliant Uncirculated coin.