The 1878 Morgan dollar is extremely confusing because there are a number of different 1878 Morgan dollars. All are worth knowing and probably owning.
The first Morgan dollars showed the eagle with 8 tail feathers, but that was quickly stopped when it was discovered that eagles had one feather longer than the others, suggesting an odd number of tail feathers.
The first efforts to change the tail feather count was a hurried approach that resulted in doubled tail feathers, or what’s known as “7 over 8 tail feathers”.
The next type of 1878 Morgans are known as the reverse of 1878 and the reverse of 1879 (both with 7 tail feathers). The eagles breast is flat on the 1878 ($100 in MS-60) but round on the reverse 1879 ($325 in MS-60).
David Bowers estimates that the reverse of 1878 has a mintage of 7,850,000. He puts the reverse of 1879 at 1,500,000.
Collectors have generally made a solid case for obtaining all 4 varieties. All are interesting since they reflect a very busy time at the mint as it tried to deal with the demands of a new dollar and a public that was far from happy over the new design.
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