It's a dream of many collectors to own at least one near-gem MS-64 Morgan silver dollar as these specimens exhibit eye-catching luster and nearly unblemished surfaces on both obverse and reverse. But only a small fraction of Morgans qualify for this superior grade. Conservatively, the 1899-O issue may have less than 2% of its original mintage remaining in MS-64 or higher grades. The New Orleans Mint 1901-O issue was once a prime rarity in the Morgan series. Bags of them were discovered in the last major U.S. Treasury silver dollar releases of the early 1960s. Of these newly released mint-state coins only a few qualified for MS-64 grading. Each certified MS-64 near-gem Morgan comes in a protective transparent slab with grading certification by NGC or PCGS.