Flowing hair silver dollars seem to have little collector interest compared to the later varieties. There are very few experts in this area of coin collecting.

Flowing hair dollars are very scarce compared to Morgan & Peace dollars, and yet they are reasonable priced for their scarcity. They have an attractive design and are far less standardized than Morgan or Peace dollars. They also have the advantage of far less price volatility than Morgan or Peace dollars.

The Mint Act of 1792 provided for the coinage of silver dollars to be a par with Mexican and Spanish dollars. They were to weigh 416 grains. Eventually the weight was adjusted to 412.5 grains of 90% silver before silver dollars were actually produced in 1794.

A total of 1758, 1794 silver dollars were struck and sent to New England. They appeared to be weakly struck. But the strike wasn't the biggest problem. After only a few coins were struck, the dies became misaligned. So the dies were no longer parallel to each other.

That means the left side of 1794 dollars is almost always weak. Typical of first year of issue coinage, an abnormally high percentage were saved as keepsakes. Even at that, there are only 180 or so pieces known to exist. The majority of them grade only fair to very good, with only a dozen known MS examples.

1794 dollars are difficult to properly grade. In addition to striking problems, many of the coins show heavy, or more-than-usual adjustment marks. Many existing 1794 pieces have been repaired, by drilling and plugging, or damaged when someone's initials were engraved in the coin sometime early in its life.

These problem coins won't be graded by grading services and should be avoided altogether by collectors. Another common negative feature exists with these coins. It is the attempted strengthening of hair detail.

Hair strengthening can be detected by looking at the overall quality of the coin. If the coin has generally poor detail, but the hair detail looks strong, it's a sign of tampering. Hair detail wasn't strong to begin with, and was the first area to wear in circulation.

The much more obtainable Flowing Hair Liberty Dollar is the 1975 with its mintage of 160,295. They are often weakly struck at the centers and will likely lack detail on the eagle's breast feathers and wing tops.

Adjustment file marks are common on these coins as well. By October of 1795, the Draped Bust design had been adopted, with 42,738 examples produced. Like the 1921 silver dollar series, this year is fun to have an example of each of the dollars minted that year.

I must apologize for using a politically incorrect term in this article. I mentioned "problem coins" a couple of times. I really meant to say "challenged coins". Please forgive my oversight.

To discover more about coins: collecting issues, money management, investing in the rare and bullion coin market, and much more, I invite you to visit http://www.heritagecoingallery.com for videos and free tips on buying coins at the best prices.

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As late as the early 1970's, the coin market was dominated by dealers and collectors. Even though the collectors often made money on their coins, they didn't consider themselves to be investors.

As late as the early 1970's, the coin market was dominated by dealers and collectors. Even though the collectors often made money on their coins, they didn't consider themselves to be investors.

A couple of things combined to get the interest of non-collectors in the rare coin market by the mid 1970's:

1. Sale of surplus silver dollars by the U.S. Treasury

2. Lifting ban on gold ownership in place since the 1930's.

Both of these actions helped draw public attention to the coin market and many new people started buying them. This helped propel the coin market for the next decade.

Ultra-rare coins were commanding unprecedented prices. There are famous collections that earned phenomenal profits for the owners or their heirs. The Garrett, Norweb and Eliasberg Collections are examples of coin collectors who would accept only the finest, and as a result made huge dividends with their later sale.

The Redfield hoard added some 407,000 Morgan Silver Dollars to the thin rare coin market. Many analysts were concerned that this would create an oversupply, and send the coin market into a depression. After all, the rare silver dollar market was still trying to absorb the Federal Government silver sell-off of the 1960's.

The exact opposite effect took place. The Redfield hoard led to a dramatic increase in prices by attracting many new collectors into the market. The Redfield coins created a new demand that exceeded the new supply. Marketing and media exposure were the primary driver for this new interest.

Investors arrived into the rare coin market and demanded exceptional quality. Collectors normally place more emphasis on rarity, while investors place a premium on quality.

Third party grading accelerated the preoccupation with high mint state quality coins. Slight differences in MS grades, for example MS-64 and MS-65 will result in great price disparities. As a consequence, accurate grading became imperative.

The grading revolution of the mid to late 1980's put coins back on track as investment vehicles. Investors could now have more confidence in their coin purchases. Common date Morgans are the single most traded coins. They exist in large numbers in MS grades and trade within a narrow range, similar to commodities.

The changes in the coin market during the 70's and 80's have led to a new breed of buyer, part investor and part collector. These people enjoy the best of both worlds.

They admire the coin's heritage, at the same time look for coins that will appreciate in value over time. Profit potential and sound business decisions are driving factors in the purchase of their collectible silver coins.

The super grade coins, MS-66 and above have the combination of rarity and quality that make them irresistible to the modern investor/collector. These specimens have increased in value faster than their more common siblings.

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When looked at critically, the only thing that is backing money is the credit of the government. Therefore, increasing money supply effectively leads to lowered purchasing power of the dollar, which is comparable to what happens when companies issue extra shares of stock, hence diluting ownership of existing owners. On the other hand, gold remains consistent, while maintaining its inherent value, which makes it a reliable investment.

In order to truly appreciate how valuable gold is and to get a better understanding of gold-related investment, you first need to understand a bit of the history of the worldwide transition from gold-backed to fiat currency.

The Transition From Gold-Backed To Fiat Currency

For thousands of years, gold was either used as a currency or as a backing for currency, but this changed in the recent past. It has also been used as an investment product for a long time, which still continues to this day. Currency that is backed by the precious metal is simply called 'gold-backed currency'.

On the other hand, 'fiat currency' isn't backed by gold, silver or even real estate. Moreover, such a currency isn't created by the free market, but it's instead created by fiat (a decree or arbitrary order) of the government. Virtually all currency in the entire world is a fiat currency. This includes the Australian dollar, US dollar, Great Britain pound, euro, Japanese Yen and many others.

If you're wondering when all currencies shifted from gold-backed to fiat, it all started in 1944. The World Bank archives reveal that representatives from 44 major countries of the world met at the Bretton Woods Conference (officially called the United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference) where the International Monetary Fund (IMF) was created. The IMF served the purpose of maintaining a fixed exchange rates system, based on the US dollar and gold (this was the first deviation from purely gold-backed currency).

The US Department of State goes further to reveal that the move from purely gold-backed currency was further advanced in 1971, when the US dollar's convertibility into gold was suspended by President Richard Nixon. Finally, in 1973, the major industrialized nations all adopted floating exchange rates (an exchange-rate regime whereby the currency fluctuates based on the foreign-exchange market) as the norm for their currencies.

How Gold Buyers Benefit From The Fiat Currency/Floating Exchange Rates

Although a currency's value under floating exchange rates primarily depends on the strength of the economy, many variables can affect this value in the short term. These include such aspects as: new home sales, retail sales, sentiment of traders and non-farm payroll. This has the effect of making gold an excellent product to hedge against inflation, since it isn't attached to currency. Such a beneficial aspect has made this precious metal quite popular as part of the portfolio for experienced investors.

When looked at critically, the only thing that is backing money is the credit of the government. Therefore, increasing money supply effectively leads to lowered purchasing power of the dollar, which is comparable to what happens when companies issue extra shares of stock, hence diluting ownership of existing owners. On the other hand, gold remains consistent, while maintaining its inherent value, which makes it a reliable investment. Moreover, this precious metal has been consistently increasing in price, even during currency inflation (by February 2014 the gold price per ounce had reached a high of US$1,323.25, based on data from the Queensland Parliamentary Library and Research Service).

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