Archive for September, 2009
American Silver Dollars Still Shine Brightly As The Best Old Silver Dollars
Since the first days of America, the silver coin of choice has been the dollar. They have symbolized the lasting strength of the United States for over 200 years. American silver dollars are still sought by new and veteran coin collectors of all ages. They are not only beautiful works of art, they have a rich history being struck in silver dollar mints across the country.
From the beginning of the modern age, silver has become one of the major metals for world trade. Gold coins are very precious and brass or copper not valuable enough. Silver has the perfect balance of rareness and worth to make it the coin of trade around the world. The United States has always minted silver dollars since the end of the American revolution. The first old silver dollars were nearly ninety percent silver and were pressed from hand made dies giving them a hand made look that is loved by collectors.
As the years passed, prices of silver climbed and far outpaced the value of gold. American silver dollars were being refined and melted to exchange for gold. This forced the American mint to stop striking silver dollars until things turned around in 1835. The silver exchange eventually settled down and silver priced dropped. There was a renewed call for the silver dollar. This brought the advent of the Liberty silver dollars.
Christian Gobrecht designed the first seated Liberty silver dollar. This design proved to be so popular with all Americans that it soon appeared on almost all coins of that day. Seated Liberty silver dollars were replaced in 1878 by the Morgan silver dollar. Morgans were struck at such a high number, thanks to the silver strikes in the West, that there was soon a glut of silver and silver dollars, driving their value lower. The owners of the silver mines lobbied Washington to require every banknote in the country to be backed by silver to protect its worth. This led to the huge number of Morgan silver dollars circulating during the mid 1900s.
Morgan silver dollars are the easiest and most satisfying coin to collect. These big coins were struck for so long at five different U.S. mints, giving them many variants of date and series. They are easily the best way for a beginning collector to start.
These days with the advent of the Internet coin collecting is very easy. Any collector can find American silver eagle dollars, Eisenhower silver dollars and even uncirculated proof sets without having to leave home. This has made it a snap for beginning collectors as well as seasoned pros. The joy and excitement of coin collecting can also be a smart investment.
With the rising value of all precious metals around the globe, there has seldom been a better time for investing in American silver dollars.