1887/6-O Morgan Dollar

Circulation Mintage: 200,000

Obverse Text: 1887/6 | LIBERTY | E PLURIBUS UNUM

Reverse Text: UNITED STATES OF AMERICA | ONE DOLLAR | IN GOD WE TRUST | O

Guidelines for Collecting:

At the Philadelphia Mint in the latter part of 1886 or early 1887, when 1887-dated dies were being prepared, a number of 1886 dies were partially resurfaced and then punched with 1887 dates, creating overdates now known among 1887 and 1887-O dollars. The 1887/6-O overdate was discovered by professional numismatist Bob Riethe in 1972, a year after Ted F. Clark’s discovery of the Philadelphia version. Little attention was paid to the 1887/6-O in the early years, but beginning with the dissemination of information from the Van Allen-Mallis book, and, more recently, the Fivaz-Stanton guide, interest has increased sharply.

The overdate is not as sharp as the 1887/6 Philadelphia coins, and in later states is very faint and quite difficult to immediately discern. The best advice for the collector is to seek an early die impression of higher quality.

Availability in Circulated Grades:

Cherrypicker alert: this date can be found in circulated grades but the overdate details fade more rapidly from this die than from that of its Philadelphia Mint overdate counterpart. Have your loupes on hand when viewing circulated 1887-O Morgan dollars—who knows what you’ll find?

Availability in Mint State Grades:

Most grades are available with some patience. We like the MS-63 level as both affordable and physically sound. When looking for this date, be prepared to see many so-so Uncirculated coins before finding one with solid luster and a crisp strike early from the press—it’s worth the search.