Collectors Guide to Morgan Silver Dollars - Littleton Coin Company

The Morgan SilverDollar Hoards22The Redfield HoardLaVere Redfield was a “hard money” fanatic whohated the government and refused to pay taxes.After moving to Reno, Nevada in the 1930s withsome money he had made through oil and stockinvestments, Redfield, a wildly eccentric character,enjoyed looking the part of a poor farmer and wasgenerally considered a cheapskate. But Redfieldwas inconsistent. He would hitchhike to save gasbut would gamble away thousands of silver dollarsat Reno casinos!Redfield was not a coin collector. He did,however, have a unique interest in Morgan silverdollars. Friends at local banks would let him knowwhen they had bags of silver dollars, usuallyMorgans. Redfield would go to thebank and buy these silver dollars,paying astonishing amounts of papermoney for them.When he brought the coins home,there was no exciting digging throughthe bags, searching for conditions orkey date coins, or proudly displayingalbums of beautiful Morgans. Instead,Redfield often dropped the bags ofsilver dollars down a coal chute to bestored in his cellar. Redfield amassedmore than 500,000 silver dollars over LaVere Redfield was an eccentricthree decades.who liked to make people believeAfter Redfield’s death in 1974, a he was a poor farmer. Actually, hecomplete inventory of his estate was was very wealthy and hoardedtaken. Between 520,000 and 650,000 silver dollars in his cellar. Aftersilver dollars were found, dwarfing any his death in 1974, Redfield’sprevious hoard! A judge decreed that hoard of Morgan silver dollarsthe best way to settle Redfield’s estate was purchased by A-Markwas to hold an auction for the coins. Coin Company for $7,300,000!When it was over, the A-Mark Coin Curiosity about Redfield and hisCompany became the new owner of hoard generated much publicthe Redfield Hoard for $7.3 million! interest in Morgan silver dollars.An exact inventory of the hoard hasnever been released and details of the purchase are to this day vague.Morgan silver dollars were also part of two other hoards, each with strikingparallels to the Redfield Hoard.