Renowned Collector’s Trove Of Toned Morgan Dollars Offers Eye-catching Treasures In Heritage’s September 23 Showcase Auction

An exceptional NGC Registry set of GSA Hoard Morgan Dollars from a well-known collector will shimmer in the spotlight in Heritage’s Attractively Toned Morgan GSA Dollar Collection US Coins Showcase Auction September 23.

This 80-lot assemblage comes to Heritage from Jack Kelly, who is known as “Toneddollars” in the NGC Registry. Submitted to NGC for grading or regrading in 2019, most of the coins in the collection received a grade of NGC MS65 or higher, including many that earned the coveted Star Designation for exceptional eye appeal.

“Finely curated collections like this always are a special treat for us to handle,” says Todd Imhof, Executive Vice President at Heritage Auctions. “The level of connoisseurship is inspiring, and the eye appeal of the coins is just stunning. We expect some huge premiums to be executed by our bidders.”

“GSA Hoard” is the name given to a cache of several million silver dollars — the majority of which were Morgan Silver Dollars from the Carson City Mint — that were held in the vaults of the U.S. Treasury Department and later sold by the General Services Administration (GSA) between 1972 and 1980. Coins that have colorful toning, especially rainbow toning and crescent-shaped toning — descriptions that apply to many of Kelly’s coins — are particularly popular among collectors.

The GSA coins rested untouched for years in Treasury and Federal Reserve vaults, largely to back up silver certificates. In 1935, Congress changed the written obligation on silver certificates so the notes could be redeemed “in silver” rather than in “silver dollars” — shortly thereafter, production of the coins was discontinued.

In the late 1950s, demand for silver dollars from government vaults began to climb, peaking in the mid-1960s. A 1962 discovery of rare and valuable dates among the millions of dollar coins in Treasury vaults prompted long lines of people seeking silver certificates they wanted to redeem. After discovering numerous bags of rare Carson City Mint (“CC”) dollars, the Treasury stopped redeeming silver certificates with silver dollars, offering bars or granules, instead. Redemption of silver certificates in silver stopped altogether in 1968, although the certificates remain legal tender.

After five sales in 1973 and 1974, more than a million coins — the majority of which were Morgan silver dollars minted at Carson City — were left unsold until 1979 and 1980.

Top highlights in the auction include, but are not limited to:

  • An 1879-CC GSA Dollar, MS65+ NGC

  • An 1883-CC GSA Dollar, VAM-5B NGC

  • A Sealed Box of (5)1884 GSA Dollars Uncertified

  • An 1885-CC GSA Dollar, MS66 NGC

  • An 1882-CC $1 GSA MS65 NGC. CAC

Images and information about all lots in the auction can be found at HA.com/63299.