Morgan Silver Dollar

The Morgan Silver Dollar - A Brief History

No other U. S. silver coin can compare with the rich history enjoyed by the Morgan silver dollar (also known as the Liberty Head silver dollar). Designed by George T. Morgan, the Morgan dollar remains a favorite of both casual and serious coin collectors.

The Morgan silver dollar is one of the few coins to be produced by five different U.S. Mints (as was the $20 Gold Liberty) from 1878 thru 1921: Carson City; Denver; New Orleans; Philadelphia; and San Francisco.

1921 was the only year the Denver mint produced Morgan silver dollars. During that year, a total of 20,345,000 Morgan dollars were produced with the "D" mint mark.

Minting of the Morgan silver dollar was suspended in 1904 due a government shortage of silver bullion. Only about 8,812,000 (a relatively small mintage) were produced that year. In 1921, production resumed in a big way with approximately 86,000,000 minted but later that year the Morgan dollar was replaced by the Peace silver dollar.

The world would be awash in Morgan silver dollars except for two events: 1) the Pittman Act of 1918 permitted the melting of 270,232,722 Morgans for their silver content; and, 2) unknown millions more were turned in and melted when silver reached an all time high of $50.50 per ounce in 1980. So the number of Morgan dollars in existance is far less than the number minted (it is reported than less than 20 percent of all Morgans minted still exist).

The Morgan Silver Dollar - Facts and Details

The Morgan silver dollar features the head of Lady Liberty on the obverse side and the spread-winged eagle on the reverse. Several small variations

were made to this coin over its mint life. The mint mark is toward the bottom on the reverse side (just below the ribbon loops). Mint marks are "CC" for Carson City, "D" for Denver, "O" for New Orleans and "S" for the San Francisco Mints. If no mint mark appears, it was minted in Philadelphia.

Morgan silver dollars are 90% silver and 10% copper. Uncirculated Morgans contain .7734 Troy ounces of pure silver (24.0566 grams) with a gross weight of .859 Troy ounces (26.728 grams). Circulated Morgans are considered to contain .7650 Troy ounces of pure silver due to the "wear factor" in handling these coins (sometimes referred to as trade content). Circulated silver coins (including Morgan silver dollars) are sometimes referred to as "junk silver" but don't believe it.

If you are looking for the least expensive way of owning Morgan silver dollars and still get nice coins, stay with circulated grades of Very Fine (VF), Extremely Fine (EF or XF) or About Uncirculated (AU). Here is my list of the...

10 Most Valuable Circulated Morgan Silver Dollars To Own*

1893S - 100,000 minted; 1889CC - 350,000; 1894 - 110,972;
1893CC - 677,000; 1895S - 400,000; 1885CC - 228,000; 1895O - 450,000; 1893O - 300,000; 1879CC - 756,000; 1903S - 1,241,000.

*Better grades of these coins command a higher premium than most other Morgan dollars due to their low mintage (scarcity) and demand. Carson City (CC) Morgan dollars are especially prized by collectors since only about two percent of all Morgan dollars had the "CC" mint mark. The Carson City mint produced Morgan dollars from 1878 - 1893 except for 1886, 1887, 1888.

Uncirculated coins start at Mint State 60 (MS60) and go to MS65s (and sometimes MS66s). When investing in MS63 and higher grades - protect your investment by having them graded and "slabbed" (encased in plastic) by either NGC (Numismatic Guarantee Corporation) or PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service).

Stay with reputable dealers and be sure to shop around. Don't buy from the first dealer you find that sells Morgan dollars. Prices can vary widely and you will want to do some comparison shopping to get the maximum amount of Morgan silver dollars for your money.

To determine the silver (melt) value of a circulated Morgan silver dollar, multiply .7650 times the current spot price of silver.

Example: $40.00 x .7650 = $30.24

Disclaimer: I have made every reasonable effort to produce an informative and helpful article on Morgan silver dollars based on my research and experiences. However, I make no representation or warranties of any kind with regard to its completeness, accuracy or suitability for any specific situation or purpose. See Terms and Conditions for more info.

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