The Bland-Allison Act was passed on February 28th 1878, it required the U.S Treasury department purchase between $2,000,000 to $4,000,000 in silver each month, and that silver would be used to coin a standard U.S silver dollar. George T. Morgan, the assistant engraver at the U.S Mint, design was chosen for the new silver dollar. The Morgan silver dollar, as we call it today, was actually originally called the Bland dollar, after Congress Richard P. Bland, who was one of the founders of the Bland-Allison act. When the Morgan dollar was released, many citizens criticized the design, they called it too big, and claimed the Eagle on the reverse look scrawny, or sick. The dollar was coined every year from 1878 to 1904, and then once more in 1921.