1878 8 Tail Feathers

The 1878 8 Tail Feathers is the original reverse design of the inaugural Morgan Dollar year and the first major variety of the series. The Bland-Allison Act of February 1878 required Treasury to purchase silver and coin it into dollars, and the Philadelphia Mint pushed George T. Morgan's new design into production within weeks. The earliest dies used an eagle reverse with eight tail feathers, an anatomical error since American bald eagles carry an odd number of tail feathers. Once the issue was reported, Chief Engraver William Barber modified the reverse to a seven-tail-feather configuration that became the standard for the rest of the series. The 8 Tail Feathers reverse was therefore confined to the first weeks of 1878 production at Philadelphia. The combined 1878 Philadelphia mintage across all three reverse subtypes was 10,509,550 pieces; the 8 TF share is the smallest of the three.

For collectors, authenticating an 8 TF turns on the eagle's tail feathers. Count under five to ten power magnification: eight is the variety, seven is the standard reverse used on 1878 7 TF and beyond. The eagle's breast is flatter than the parallel breast on the modified reverse, the strike at the central reverse runs softer, and the lettering is slightly different across the year's hub-change progression. PCGS, the Professional Coin Grading Service, and NGC both attribute the variety in their slabs. Most surviving examples grade VF to MS64 from circulation and broken Treasury bag releases, with MS65 condition-scarce and MS66 a meaningful auction-tier issue.

The 1878 8 TF is a popular series Variety pickup and the standard first acquisition for collectors building a 1878 Philadelphia subtype set alongside the 7 TF Reverse of 1878 and 7 TF Reverse of 1879. Pricing has held steady for two decades, with the modest premium over the standard 1878 7 TF reflecting the shorter production window and the historical importance of the design correction. For the Bland-Allison Act backdrop and the longer 1878-1921 design arc, see the Morgan Dollar series history.