The Morgan dollar coin was minted from 1878 to 1904, and again in 1921. It is named for its designer, U.S. Mint Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan. The obverse depicts a profile portrait representing Liberty, while the reverse depicts an eagle with wings outstretched. The Coinage Act of 1873, which stopped the minting of silver dollars, was reversed by a series of laws supporting production of the Morgan dollar. The Bland–Allison Act of 1878 required the Treasury to purchase between two and four million dollars' worth of silver at market value to be coined into dollars each month. In 1890 that act was repealed by the Sherman Silver Purchase Act, which required the Treasury to purchase 4,500,000 troy ounces (140,000 kg) of silver each month, but this act too was repealed, in 1893. An 1898 law required all remaining bullion to be coined into silver dollars, and when those reserves were depleted in 1904, production of the Morgan dollar ended. The Pittman Act, passed in 1918, authorized the melting and recoining of millions of silver dollars, and the Morgan dollar resumed mintage for one year in 1921, before its replacement by the Peace dollar later the same year.
Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_dollar
_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:
1843:
Eta Carinae flared up to become the second brightest star in the night sky. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eta_Carinae
1851:
Italian Romantic composer Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto was first performed at La Fenice in Venice. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rigoletto
1946:
Rudolf Höss, the first commandant of Auschwitz concentration camp, was captured by British troops. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rudolf_H%C3%B6ss
1978:
After hijacking a bus north of Tel Aviv, members of Palestine Liberation Organization faction Fatah engaged in a shootout with the Israel Police, resulting in the deaths of 38 civilians and most of the perpetrators. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastal_Road_massacre
2006:
Michelle Bachelet was inaugurated as the first female President of Chile. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelle_Bachelet
_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:
propitious: 1. Favorable; benevolent. 2. (archaic) Favorably disposed towards someone. 3. Advantageous. 4. Characteristic of a good omen; auspicious. https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/propitious
___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:
Scientific progress on a broad front results from the free play of free intellects, working on subjects of their own choice, in the manner dictated by their curiosity for exploration of the unknown. --Vannevar Bush https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Vannevar_Bush