The Morgan silver dollar – one of the most widely collected U.S. coins – made its first appearance in 1878. Meanwhile, production of U.S. gold coins, including the Type Three Liberty double eagle, was on the upswing after reaching low ebb in 1877. The Bland-Allison Act required the coining of so many silver dollars that they soon became a glut on the market. They saw little use in commerce except in Western states.

In news events outside the world of coins:

• Thomas Edison made electricity available for household use.
• Cable-car service started in San Francisco.
• The nation’s First Lady, Lucy Hayes, wife of President Rutherford B. Hayes, gained the nickname “Lemonade Lucy” because of her refusal to serve alcoholic beverages at White House functions.
• The first White House telephone was installed.
• The U.S. Supreme court ruled that racial segregation on trains was unconstitutional.
• The Gilbert and Sullivan opera HMS Pinafore had its premiere in London.
• Joseph Pulitzer bought the bankrupt St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500 and merged it with the St. Louis Evening Post. As the Post-Dispatch, it became the city’s leading newspaper and one of the largest in the Midwest.
• New York City installed its first firehouse pole.
• In the first known attempt at motion pictures, 12 cameras were used to see whether all four of a horse's hooves leave the ground when it runs.

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