By 1962 my business was firmly established as one of the leading dealerships in the United States, and yet I do not recall handling an Uncirculated 1903-O up to that point in time. B. Max Mehl, when he sold the William Forrester Dunham Collection in 1941 specifically singled out an Uncirculated 1903-O dollar as one of the collection's major rarities - and this was in company with such stellar rarities as an 1804 silver dollar and an 1822 half eagle! Although the 1903-O dollar catalogued $1,500, undoubtedly if I had offered to pay $5,000 for one, none would have been forthcoming. In fact, most dealers in America had never even seen an Uncirculated 1903-O, let alone owned one!

The Treasury hoard: In the autumn of 1962 a few Uncirculated 1903-O dollars found their way into the market. A few days later more came on the market, and before long it was realized that the Treasury had distributed several thousand of these erstwhile great rarities. The price dropped precipitously, and general panic ensued among dealers. Would the government be destroying the very structure of the coin market by releasing rarities in quantity?

While some dealers were worried, other people were happy - especially collectors and members of the public who had the good fortune to buy bags of 1903-O, 1898-O (another prime rarity of the time) and 1904-O dollars (still another rarity), and other issues for face value. The idea of acquiring a $1,500 1903-O dollar for just one dollar was like finding gold in the streets. Television, newspapers, and other media picked up the situation, and a treasure hunt was on! People with wheelbarrows stood in line to buy bags of silver dollars from banks.

At first the Treasury was delighted to get rid of the coins, as the government's storage and inventory problem was ended. The public continued to have a good time, and a new market arose - as thousands of people desired to acquire as many different Morgan dollar date and mintmark varieties as possible. Within a year the Treasury vaults were nearly empty, except for three million pieces, primarily Carson City coins, which the government held back and decided to sell at premium prices (this was later done through a series of sales conducted by the General Services Administration, a government agency). In the meantime, millions of other Carson City, New Orleans, and San Francisco early dollars reached the hands of eager collectors and investors.