By Dan Duncan – Retired, Pinnacle Rarities ……
Last month Whitman Publishing released the new book, Morgan Dollar – America’s Love Affair With a Legendary Coin by Michael “Miles” Standish. At the recent Whitman Baltimore Summer Expo, I received a copy and had a chance to read it on my long trip back west.
Standish does an excellent job bringing the story of the Morgan dollar to life. His book is filled with great information and colorful illustrations. He is able to relate a quick historical background giving the reader a great sense of the times and circumstances that surrounded the inception and the continued production of the famed silver dollar. His nutshell explanation of the acts and economics that brought to life American numismatic’s most popular series condenses the information into an entertaining and quick read.
Standish dives into the silver dollar market giving a quick study of the early markets, while touching on the personalities and numismatists whose collecting and promotion of the series were instrumental in creating the vast silver dollar market that exists today.
The book’s date analysis gets away from the dry statistical reporting of facts and gives instead a coin by coin story illustrated wonderfully with the Cardinal Collection examples. It reads like a diary of Morgan’s great design and the factors that went into each year at Philadelphia and the branch mints. He’s able to touch on pertinent facts unique to individual dates and still keep the overall picture in sight.
Morgan Dollar is a must read for the beginner collector. It should be added to the reading list of even the most experienced dollar aficionado. The most knowledgeable within the series will enjoy and likely gleam a bit of extra information and dive deeper into the lore surrounding the great cartwheel dollars.
I suggest picking up a copy and submersing yourself in what is essentially a life and times account of one of American Numismatics most storied series.
