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The rarest of all Morgan silver dollars by 1962 was considered to be the 1903-O. In the Guide Book, an Uncirculated coin listed for $1,500, the highest price for any variety. Experts estimated that fewer than a dozen Mint State coins existed in all of numismatics. It was presumed that most had been melted in 1918 under the Pittman Act.

      Then this—in November 1962, during the normal payout of silver dollars as gifts for the holiday season, some long-sealed bags of coins were taken from a Philadelphia Mint vault that had remained under seal since 1929. It was soon found that brilliant 1903-O dollars were among these! A treasure hunt ensued, and hundreds of thousands of these former rarities were found. The rush was on!

      From then until March 1964, hundreds of millions of Morgan and Peace dollars were emptied from government and bank storage. At one time a long line of people, some with wheelbarrows, formed outside of the Treasury Building in Washington, D.C., to obtain bags of dollars. Finally, only about three million coins remained, mostly the aforementioned Carson City issues, which the Treasury decided to hold back. These were later sold at strong premiums in a series of auctions held by the General Services Administration.

      In the meantime, Morgan and Peace dollars became very large and important sections of the coin hobby, as they remain today. However, as can be seen, the combined elements of some coins’ having been melted in 1918, others having been placed into circulation generations ago, and still others existing in Mint State from long-stored hoards, results in silver dollar prices that often bear little relation to mintage figures.

       Other Famous Hoards

      While the great Treasury release of 1962 through 1964 is the most famous of all hoards, quite a few others have attracted interest and attention over the years.

      • Castine Hoard of Early Silver Coins (discovered in the 1840s). From November 1840 through April 1841, Captain Stephen Grindle and his son Samuel unearthed many silver coins on their farm on the Bagaduce River about six miles from the harbor of Castine, Maine. Between 500 and 2,000 pieces were buried in 1690 (the latest date observed) or soon afterward. Most pieces were foreign silver coins, but dozens of Massachusetts Pine Tree shillings and related silver coins were found. This hoard stands today as one of the most famous in American history.

• Bank of New York Hoard (1856). Circa 1856, a keg containing several thousand 1787 Fugio copper cents was found at the Bank of New York at 44 Wall Street. Each was in Mint State, most with brown toning. For many years these were given out as souvenirs and keepsakes to clients. By 1948, when numismatist Damon G. Douglas examined them, there were 1,641 remaining. Today, many remain at the bank and are appreciated for their history and value.

      • Nichols Find of Copper Cents (by 1859). In the annals of American numismatics, one of the most famous hoards is the so-called Nichols Find, consisting of 1796 and 1797 copper cents, Mint State, perhaps about 1,000 in total. These were distributed in the late 1850s by David Nichols. All were gone as of 1863, by which time they were worth $3 to $4 each, or less than a thousandth of their present-day value.

      • Randall Hoard of Copper Cents (1860s). Sometime soon after the Civil War, a wooden keg filled with as-new copper cents was located, said to have been beneath an old railroad platform in Georgia. Revealed were thousands of coins dated 1816 to 1820, with the 1818 and 1820 being the most numerous. Today, the Randall hoard accounts for most known Mint State examples of these particular dates.

      • Colonel Cohen Hoard of 1773 Virginia Halfpennies (by the 1870s). Sometime in the 1870s or earlier, Colonel Mendes I. Cohen, a Baltimore numismatist, obtained a cache of at least 2,200 Uncirculated specimens of the 1773 Virginia halfpenny. These passed through several hands, and many pieces were dispersed along the way. As a result, today these are the only colonial (pre-1776) American coins that can be easily obtained in Mint State.

      • Exeter Hoard of Massachusetts Silver (1876). During the excavation of a cellar near the railroad station in Exeter, New Hampshire, a group of 30 to 40 Massachusetts silver shillings was found in the sand, amid the remains of what seemed to be a wooden box. All bore the date 1652 and were of the Pine Tree and Oak Tree types, plus, possibly, a rare Willow Tree shilling.

      • Economite Treasure (1878). In 1878 a remarkable hoard of silver coins was found in a subterranean storage area at Economy, Pennsylvania, in a building erected years earlier by the Harmony Society, a utopian work-share community. The March 1881 issue of the Coin Collector’s Journal gave this inventory: Quarter dollars: 1818 through 1828, 400 pieces. Half dollars: 1794, 150; 1795, 650; 1796, 2; 1797, 1; 1801, 300; 1802, 200; 1803, 300; 1805 Over 04, 25; 1805, 600; 1806, 1,500; 1807, 2,000; 1815, 100. Common half dollars: 1808 through 1836, 111,356. Silver dollars: 1794, 1; 1795, 800; 1796, 125; 1797, 80; 1798 Small Eagle reverse, 30; 1798 Large Eagle reverse, 560; 1799 5 stars facing, 12; 1799, 1,250; 1800, 250; 1801, 1802, and 1803, 600. Foreign silver (French, Spanish, and Spanish-American), total face value: $12,600. Total face value of the hoard: $75,000.00. Other information indicates that most of the coins had been taken from circulation and showed different degrees of wear.

      • Hoard of Miser Aaron White (before 1888). Aaron White, a Connecticut attorney, distrusted paper money, going so far as to issue a token inscribed NEVER KEEP A PAPER DOLLAR IN YOUR POCKET TILL TOMORROW. He had a passion for saving coins, accumulating more than 100,000 pieces. After his death the coins were moved to a warehouse, then placed in the hands of dealer Édouard Frossard, who sold most of them privately and others by auction on July 20, 1888, billing them as “18,000 American and foreign copper coins and tokens selected from the Aaron White hoard.” An estimate of the White hoard before its dispersal, made by Benjamin P. Wright, included: “250 colonial and state copper coins, 60,000 copper large cents (which were mainly ‘rusted’ and spotted; 5,000 of the nicest ones were picked out and sold for 2¢ each), 60,000 copper-nickel Flying Eagle and Indian cents (apparently most dated 1862 and 1863), 5,000 bronze two-cent pieces, 200 half dollars, 100 silver dollars, 350 gold dollars, and 20,000 to 30,000 foreign copper coins.”

      • Collins Find of 1828 Half Cents (1894). Benjamin H. Collins, a Washington, D.C., numismatist, acquired a bag of 1828, 13 Stars, half cents. Around 1,000 coins were involved, all bright Uncirculated. By the early 1950s all but a few hundred had been distributed in the marketplace, and by now it is likely that all have individual owners.

      • Chapman Hoard of 1806 Half Cents (1906). About 1906, Philadelphia dealer Henry Chapman acquired a hoard of 1806 half cents. It is estimated that a couple hundred or so coins were involved. Most or all had much of their original mint red color, with toning to brown, and with light striking at the upper part of the wreath.

      • Baltimore Find (1934). One of the most storied hoards in American numismatics is this cache of at least 3,558 gold coins, all dated before 1857. On August 31, 1934, two young boys playing in the cellar of a rented house at 132 South Eden Street, Baltimore, found these coins hidden in a wall. More were found later in the same location. On May 2, 1935, many of the coins were sold at auction, though others had been sold quietly, some unofficially. This hoard included many choice and gem coins of the 1850s.

      • New Orleans Bank Find (1982). A few minutes past noon, on October 29, 1982, a bulldozer unearthed a cache of long-hidden silver coins, believed to have been stored in three wooden boxes in the early 1840s. Though mostly Spanish-American issues, hundreds of United States coins, including 1840-O and 1841-O Liberty Seated quarters, were also found. A scrabble in the dirt and mud ensued, as bank employees and bystanders scrambled to find treasure. The latest dated coin found was from 1842. This must have been a secret reserve of some long-forgotten merchant or bank.

      • Wells-Fargo Hoard of 1908 $20 (1990s). In the 1990s, dealer Ron Gillio purchased a hoard of 19,900 1908 No Motto double eagles. These were stored in a Wells Fargo Bank branch, giving the cache its name. All were Mint State, and many were of choice and gem quality. They were dispersed in the market over a period of several years.

      • Gold coins from abroad (turn of the

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