1888-O Morgan Dollar
Common dateA common date that carries one of the most recognised doubled dies in the series.
Mintage
- Business strikes
- 12,150,000
- Mint
- New Orleans (O)
- Mintage rank
- 79 of 96
Rank 1 is the lowest business-strike mintage in the series. Mintage is what the Mint produced, not what survives: some 270 million silver dollars were melted under the Pittman Act of 1918 without the dates being recorded, and several issues sat in Treasury vaults for decades before release.
Reading the figure
Among the 26 New Orleans issues in the series it is the 23rd smallest. Of the 31,990,000 struck across all mints in 1888, this issue accounts for 38%. Philadelphia struck 1.6 times as many that year. The 1888 split ran Philadelphia 19,183,000, New Orleans 12,150,000 and San Francisco 657,000. The series median is 5,000,000, so this issue is more than twice as numerous as a typical date. In 1888 the coin was struck at Philadelphia, New Orleans and San Francisco; Carson City struck none.
Every sentence above is computed from the mintage table on this page, not asserted separately.
Scarcity tier
Common date
Assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 is a key date, under 2,500,000 is a semi-key.
This is a reproducible label derived from the mintage column, not a market valuation and not a Coin Curator price opinion. The same thresholds apply to every series on this site. Several dates are far harder or far easier to obtain than their mintage implies; where that is true, it is stated above.
Documented varieties
VAM-1B "Hot Lips"
A strongly doubled obverse die showing a clearly displaced second profile at the lips and nose. One of the few Morgan varieties recognised well beyond variety specialists.
VAM-1A "Scarface"
A prominent die break running across the cheek.
Widely recognised varieties only. The VAM reference catalogs thousands of die marriages across these series; the absence of a variety here does not mean none is documented elsewhere.
What to check before buying
Specific to the 1888-O:
- 1A "Hot Lips" attribution should be stated on the certification label; doubling this dramatic is also a common target for altered or damaged coins passed off as the variety.
And for any certified coin
Verify the certification number on the grading service’s own lookup rather than from a photograph of the label, match the listing images to the certification record including grade and any variety attribution, look for cleaning, compare the mintmark against published photographs of the genuine issue, and read the return policy before buying. The grading guide covers each of these in full.
Coin Curator does not grade, authenticate, or appraise coins, and publishes no price or population data. These are verification steps, not a valuation.
Verify a certification number
Look a 1888-Ocertification number up on the service’s own site. A photograph of a label proves nothing.
Each service publishes its own guarantee with conditions and exclusions. Compare PCGS, NGC and ANACS.
Find a 1888-O for sale
Opens an eBay search for this exact date and mint. Coin Curator does not list inventory, hold stock, or quote prices; verify each listing, seller, and return policy directly.
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Common questions
How many 1888-O Morgan dollars were minted?
The New Orleans Mint struck 12,150,000 1888-O Morgan dollars for circulation. That is the 79th lowest business-strike mintage of the 96 date and mintmark combinations in the series.
Is the 1888-O Morgan dollar a key date?
Coin Curator labels it a common date, assigned from reported mintage alone: under 750,000 struck is a key date and under 2,500,000 is a semi-key. The same thresholds are used for every series on this site, so the tiers are comparable between them. That label describes production, not market value or how hard the coin is to find today. A common date that carries one of the most recognised doubled dies in the series.
What varieties exist for the 1888-O Morgan dollar?
Widely recognised varieties for this issue include VAM-1B "Hot Lips" and VAM-1A "Scarface". A strongly doubled obverse die showing a clearly displaced second profile at the lips and nose. One of the few Morgan varieties recognised well beyond variety specialists. Variety attributions should appear on the certification label rather than only in a seller's description.
What should I check before buying an 1888-O Morgan dollar?
Verify the certification number on the grading service's own lookup page, match the listing photographs to the certification record, check for cleaning, and compare the mintmark shape and position against published photographs of the genuine issue. A "Hot Lips" attribution should be stated on the certification label; doubling this dramatic is also a common target for altered or damaged coins passed off as the variety.
Related dates
Guides for this coin
All guides →Morgan Dollar Key Dates and Varieties
The 1893-S, 1895 Proof-only, 1889-CC, and important VAM varieties show why date, mint, attribution, and condition must be researched together.
1 min readVintage GuideCarson City Mint: Why CC Coins Command Premiums
Carson City Mint operated 1870-1885 + 1889-1893. Coins from the silver mined down the road. Low mintages, frontier-era history, and the iconic CC mint mark, the most romantic coins in US numismatics.
2 min readEducationError Coins: Types, Attribution, and Verification
Learn the difference between off-center strikes, doubled dies, mules, broadstrikes, and post-mint damage, plus the records to check before buying.
1 min readBuying GuideHow to Spot a Counterfeit or Doctored Coin
Use weight, dimensions, surfaces, mintmark details, holder inspection, and certification records as screening checks. Learn the warning signs of altered coins and fake slabs.
1 min readMintage sources
Mintage figures are U.S. Mint production records, cross-checked against the published tables below on 2026-07-31. Where those tables disagree, the disagreement is disclosed on the affected page rather than resolved silently.
- Wikipedia, "Morgan dollar" mintage figures table — Cites Yeoman (A Guide Book of United States Coins) and Van Allen & Mallis.
- CoinMintages.com, Morgan dollar mintages — Lists business strikes and proofs separately, including the 1878 tail-feather varieties.
- GovMint, Morgan silver dollar mintage chart — Published as sourced from U.S. Mint records.
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