Morgan Dollar Patterns and Die Trials (1878-1885)

This short set of less than 20 coins contains some of the most important, yet still reasonably priced, U.S. Patterns. Most of the 1878 patterns resemble closely the coins that eventually were struck for circulation except, that is, for J-1565, which married Morgan’s obverse with a droopy eagle reverse by Barber. Morgan made similar changes in 1879, but none were used. In 1885, Mint official experimented with the edge, creating a pattern (J-1747) with a raised E PLURIBUS UNUM replacing the usual edge reeding. The rest of the coins in this set are die trials in copper and aluminum, all of which are interesting in their appearance and motivation. This is a great set of big, visually impressive coins with familiar designs.

Notes: This set has bonuses. Please see the Set Composition for a listing.