Collectors Guide to Morgan Silver Dollars - Littleton Coin Company

1878 – The FirstYear of IssueThe Morgan silver dollar was first minted in 1878, after a lapse of fiveyears in the production of circulating silver dollars. The coin had a roughstart, which would give the first-year-of-issue Morgan dollars an extrameasure of interest and historical significance.The trouble began five years beforethe first Morgans were minted. TheMint Act of February 1873 ended theproduction of the Liberty Seated silverdollars in favor of Trade and gold dollars.Silver dollars made up less than onepercent of circulating silver, so the publicwas not much affected by this change.Silver mine owners out West,however, were outraged. They lobbiedand pressured their congressmen. Afterfive years of heated debate, Congressfinally authorized the production of anew silver dollar in 1878.The beautiful new coins became knownamong collectors as Morgan dollars, inhonor of their designer, George T. Morgan,English-born assistant engraver at thePhiladelphia Mint.Morgan made several studies ofGreek profiles at the PhiladelphiaAcademy of Fine Arts, but was searchingfor an American girl to represent Liberty.Thomas Eakins, a renowned landscapepainter and friend of Morgan’s, suggestedAnna Willess Williams, a fellow artstudent and schoolteacher.George T. Morgan, anEnglish-born engraver for theU.S. Mint, was chosen to designthe new silver dollar.Williams was reluctant at first to pose for Morgan. In those days, “nice”girls did not model for artists! She insisted on strict secrecy, fearing shewould lose her job if the truth were known. Williams sat for Morgan fivetimes, and he would later declare she had a nearly perfect profile.Some years later, a newspaper reporter discovered the identity ofMorgan’s Liberty and over protests, printed the story. Williams, as shefeared, lost her teaching position. Fortunately, she found another teachingjob and remained in Philadelphia until her death in 1926, just five yearsafter the last Morgan silver dollar was minted.6