1896-S Morgan $1 (1896-S Morgan Dollar) NGC MS65. Worn specimens of the 1896-S Morgan Dollar are common, but mint state examples are rare, especially those in gem condition. The current piece is tied for third finest at NGC. It is characterized by bright mint luster with semi-reflective fields and satiny devices. A few light hairlines and very minor abrasion marks keep this coin from a superb gem grade. The above average strike shows almost full details on Libertys hair and the eagles breast feathers.

Morgan dollars were issued annually from 1878 to 1904 and then in 1921. Designed by George T, Morgan, they show a close-up head of Liberty in profile facing left. She wears a headband inscribed LIBERTY. In her hair are cotton, corn, wheat, and tobacco. She wears a modified Phrygian cap and is surrounded with the motto E PLURIBUS UNUM, thirteen stars (seven left and six right), and the date. The reverse shows an eagle with wings raised looking left. In its talons are arrows and olive branch, symbols of preparedness and peace. A wreath is below, and the motto IN GOD WE TRUST is above. Except for the eagles wing tips, UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DOLLAR, separated by stars, circumscribe the design. The mintmark is below the wreaths knot between the D and O in DOLLAR.

George T. Morgan was born in 1845 in Birmingham, England. In 1876 he came to the United States and was hired to be an Assistant Engraver at the Mint. He wrote a letter to Mint officials explaining his previous experiences: I am familiar with the engraving of coin dies, having for several years, assisted Messrs. J.S. & A.B. Wyon. I think I may say that I have a good knowledge of Design & Modeling. I served an apprenticeship to the Die Sinking at Birmingham. From Birmingham School of Art I successfully competed for a Scholarship at South Kensington during my Studentship I obtained Medals & Prizes for Models of Heads from Life, Figures from Life & Antique Heads from Photographs and Flowers from nature. I believe it is not usual for an Engraver to have a practical knowledge of Bronzing. Fortunately I have knowledge of this art and could in a short time so instruct an apt scholar that he would be able to successfully bronze a medal.

That year Morgan was hired to work at the Mint in Philadelphia. It was understood that William Barber would soon retire so there would be a place for Morgan to work. In 1878 Morgan designed a Liberty head for the new dollar. The only complaint with his design was that Liberty was too heavy. For his model, Morgan used Anna Williams, a school teacher from Philadelphia. Charles Barber also submitted a design. His design showed Liberty as also being too heavy, but she was also dumpy looking and had a fat neck. Morgans reverse showed an eagle that looked almost heraldic. Barbers seemed more real. It is an irony that the first Morgan dollar was presented to the president who had vetoed the authorizing act.

As the coins entered circulation, they were popular in the West and South but were generally ignored in the northeast, where paper currency served for most business transactions. When William Barber died in 1879, his relatively untalented son, Charles, became the Engraver. Morgan finally became Engraver after Charles died in 1917. Morgan remained Chief Engraver until he died in 1925.

In grades VG to VF, the 1896-S dollar is plentiful. Above XF40 they are hard to find. Mint state examples are rare. In its population report, NGC shows 21 in MS65 with 5 better.