The "Seven Over Eight" Morgan Dollar - A Valuable Find With an Interesting History

For collectors, the seven over eight Morgan dollar is one of the most sought-after coins

in existence. But what is it and how did it come to exist?

The Morgan dollar was designed by George T. Morgan from England. Morgan won a staged

contest held by the director of the Philadelphia mint, Henry P. Linderman, for the design of

the coin. Linderman was not happy with the designs of the Chief Engraver at the time, so

the staged contest allowed him to use Morgan and have more input into the design of the

coin. The coin's design had the head of Liberty on the face, which was Linderman's

suggestion, with a rather scrawny-looking bald eagle on the coins obverse (tails) side.

It's unclear whether the fault lies with Morgan's design or with the maker of the die

used to strike the coin, but production began in 1878 with the bald eagle having eight tail

feathers. Someone informed the mint that a bald eagle actually has seven tail

Some of the coins which had just been struck with the eight-tail-feather design were sent

back to be struck again using the new die. However, the new die did not totally cover the

old eight-tail design. The old design shows through to varying degrees on the coins. Some

show around three to seven tips of the eagles tail feathers underneath the new design. Some

of the rarer - and more valuable - coins have a doubled "LIBERTY" marking and doubled

eagle's legs.

If you can find a seven-over-eight (7/8F) Morgan dollar, keep in safe, it is worth

something! The more tail feathers that are visible underneath the "over-stamp", the better.

However, more and more collectors are snatching these coins up so they are becoming an

increasingly rare find. A valuable coin with an interesting history.