1st Morgan Dollar Struck & the 19th President: Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Center - Huge Pi

Manorcourtman

Today I had the chance to visit the home and museum of our 19th President, Rutherford B. Hayes, located in Fremont Ohio. His legacy is peppered with numerous interesting items relating to the field of numismatics. His presidency ran from 1877-1881. His term saw the start of the minting of the beloved Morgan dollar. I had the pleasure of seeing the first one ever to be struck. I also had the pleasure of seeing the original document from the US Mint dated March 11, 1878 verifying the coin by the then Philadelphia Mint Supt. Pollock as the first struck. The Rutherford collection also included numerous medals which I am not familiar with but took pics for you Medal guys! Some were superbly toned!! The Morgan dollar appeared nearly perfect and Prooflike. It may in fact be a Proof although I am unsure. You must realize it was 2 foot behind glass so I did the best I could with the pics. I could not get a pic of the reverse.

The Rutherford B. Hayes presidency was highly controversial one to say the least. He was the first President elected without winning the popular vote. There are numerous other very interesting happenings in his term as President. I will not bore those not interested in the history! But I have posted a link below to his life as posted on Wikipedia. I highly recommend you students of history to check it out!!

The 19th President: Rutherford B. Hayes

Now the pics!

anablep

Great items on display there.

Seems like a nice trip.

Thanks for sharing the photos!

Dentuck

Very cool! Thank you for taking the time to share your experience and photos.

Dog97

There's a mention of that Morgan on the front of the 3rd VAM book. It was attributed VAM 9 by board member "danut78" Pete Bishal, that's him holding it in the picture. According to him it had been polished.

blu62vette

Great looking stuff.....

messydesk

Thanks for the pics. Very cool, indeed. One thing to note about it being a VAM 9 is that Pete Bishal, though his research, predicted that it would be a VAM 9 before ever seeing it, then verified his prediction when he got to see the Hayes coin in person. Love the script on the certificate, too.

epcjimi1

First Morgan struck ever? Great pics + post!

X 10

The best posts are firsthand research, visits, etc.

Good job, bro.

coindeuce

The 1878 8TF Morgan in the Hayes Museum is generally regarded as an impaired Presentation piece. It is not a Proof strike. Most of the medals in the above photograph are U.S. Mint issues which were struck during Hayes term of POTUS, authorized by Mint Superintendent James Pollock. Unfortunately they appear to be inferior quality examples that may have been donated to the museum. The Colonel George Croghan medal was struck much earlier, and may have been included in the display because of it's relevance to Ohio history. Croghan is honored for his leadership at the Battle of Sandusky.

Hayes is rumored to have initially refused to accept the Presentation Morgan dollar, as he was an adamant opponent of the Western Mining interests and their forceful lobbying power, which created extreme duress on the Federal budget once it became law that the Government was obligated to buy the silver being unearthed on the Western frontier.

RWB

It's the first production coin struck on a normal press. Not a proof, just shiny since the die was new.

Julian

<< <i>It's the first production coin struck on a normal press. Not a proof, just shiny since the die was new. >>



It also looks like it has been polished over the years.

DennisH

My guess is became polished looking after many years of "let's wipe off that tarnish so it looks shiny again".

mumu

It has an interesting glow to it.

Manorcourtman

For the morning crowd. A Happy New year to all!

PerryHall

<< <i>

<< <i>It's the first production coin struck on a normal press. Not a proof, just shiny since the die was new. >>



It also looks like it has been polished over the years. >>



Agree. Most museum curators don't know how to take care of coins. Like most of the general public, they think tarnish should be removed just like with the the family silverware.

PerryHall

<< <i>For the morning crowd. A Happy New year to all! >>



Great thread. Thanks!!!

illini420

Very cool!

TorinoCobra71

"....UGH! It needs to be DIPPED, Cheers RickO."

golfer72

Great pictures. Thanks for posting!

ricko

"Most museum curators don't know how to take care of coins. Like most of the general public, they think tarnish should be removed just like with the the family silverware."

Of course, they are correct.

Cheers, RickO

AnkurJ

Very nice!

Flatwoods

Great post. Thanks for sharing.

WinPitcher

Thanks!

dragon

Very interesting and historically significant Morgan Dollar to be sure, thanks for posting pics of it!


The real question is: Would that 1878 Morgan Dollar qualify for the highly sought after PCGS 'First Strike' holder if submitted with the certification letter from the Mint Superintendent??

Manorcourtman

<< <i>Very interesting and historically significant Morgan Dollar to be sure, thanks for posting pics of it!


The real question is: Would that 1878 Morgan Dollar qualify for the highly sought after PCGS 'First Strike' holder if submitted with the certification letter from the Mint Superintendent??

>>



This one is a true first strike!