[the OlLine Rebel]

No, just because dates are old does not mean it was over decades.

Especially with banks or certainly MINTS. They store old things in “mint” condition for ages. Especially if the banks don’t exchange for them.

My mother foolishly spent a bunch of Morgan silver dollars left from her grandparents, who had many bank bags of them. They had stopped making them after 1921, period.

[Axenolith]

Their condition is what indicates that they were saved over time. It is mentioned that paper money was illegal then, but in actuality what California had was law that stated the method of payment could be stipulated in a contract. Everyone preferred to stipulate that payment in specie usually (gold or silver). Gold and silver in the west circulated a lot and subsequently suffered significant wear from that circulation. Few major coins that circulated in the west stayed in good shape.

In the detecting world, we know that coins dug up in the pristine state circulated very little if at all, we call them a "fresh drop", i.e. it was dropped fairly close to the time it was minted and placed in circulation.

This dime below was a pretty "fresh drop" (the pennies don't do real well in the soil type the dime was found in, other places they come out nice though)

[Patriot Babe]

I inherited 2 morgan dollars from 1896. Have no clue what to do with them. Since I need money being unemployed, I was thinking of selling them to a pawn shop but I’m afraid I will be taken. Also your story reminds me of my father’s friend from Mexico. She came to the US to take her daughter to Disneyland in Los Angeles. Well she was using JFK half dollars for paying things there. She told my father everyone was happy when she was using it for transaction. I think I pretty know why they were happy. Some of those half dollars were from 1964..ouch. Anyway I have inherited my father and mother coin collection including mine that I started and have no clue what the hell to do for fear of being taken.