1878-1904 & 1921
The Morgan Silver Dollar, which was named after its designer, George T. Morgan, was minted from 1878 – 1904 and then again for one year in 1921. Each Morgan Silver Dollar has a finesse of .900 which gives it 0.77344 troy ounces, or 24.057 grams of silver.
The coin was commissioned after the Bland-Allison Act was passed; which called for the US Treasury Department to buy large amounts of silver, and strike it into coins. This was at a time when the cost of silver was very low due to the Comstock Lode silver strike in Nevada; which to this day is the largest silver strike in history.
The Morgan Silver Dollar was minted up to 1904 when there was a large supply of the dollars in circulation and a shortage of silver bullion. Finally in 1918 the Pittman act was passed which required 270 million of the coins to be melted down for their silver content. The Treasury Department would mint the coin one more time in 1921 before it was replaced by the Silver Peace Dollar.
The coin features George T. Morgan’s rendition of Lady Liberty on the obverse side of the coin and an Eagle holding arrows and an olive branch on the reverse side. The mintmarks of the coin are located below the tail feathers of the eagle on the reverse side of the coin between the D and O in Dollar. The mintmark on the coin can be either blank, CC, D, O, or S. Of all the mintmarks the CC mark is considered to be the most valuable as they had the lowest mintages, as well as holding a connection to the west having been minted in Carson City, Nevada.
The most collectible Morgan Silver Dollar varieties include:
- 1878-P: The eagles has 8 tail feathers
- 1879-CC: Contains a clear CC
- 1882-O: The O is stamped over the S
- 1887-O: The 7 in the date is stamped over a 6
- 1888-O: Double obverse sides
- 1900-O: The O is stamped over CC
- 1901-P: Double reverse sides
As for the value of the Morgan dollar, a regular specimen will carry a value anywhere from $30 up into the low thousands. If you are lucky enough to get your hands on an 1895 Proof of the Silver Morgan Dollar you will be looking at approximately $66,000 according to the 2007 Red Book.
Morgan Silver Dollar Specifications:
Minted: 1878-1904 & 1921
Diameter: 38.1 mm
Weight: 26.73 g
Composition: 90% silver 10% copper
Silver Content: 24.057 g
Edge: Reeded
Designer: George T. Morgan
Written by Mike Barton for Coin Collector Guide, Copyright 2008
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Morgan Dollar Mintage Numbers
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1878 8TF* — 749,500 1878 7TF — 9,759,300 1878-CC — 2,212,000 1878-S —- 9,774,000 1879 —— 14,806,000 1879-CC — 756,000 1879-O —- 2,887,000 1879-S —- 9,110,000 1880 —— 12,600,000 1880-CC — 591,000 1880-O —- 5,305,000 1880-S —- 8,900,000 1881 —— 9,163,000 1881-CC — 296,000 1881-O —- 5,708,000 1881-S —- 12,760,000 1882 —— 11,100,000 1882-CC — 1,133,000 1882-O —- 6,090,000 1882-S —- 9,250,000 188 ——- 12,290,000 1883-CC — 1,204,000 1883-O —- 8,725,000 1883-S —- 6,250,000 1884 —— 14,070,000 1884-CC — 1,136,000 1884-O —- 9,730,000 1884-S —- 3,200,000 1885 —— 17,787,000 1885-CC — 238,000 1885-O —- 9,185,000 1885-S —- 1,497,000 |
1886 —— 19,963,000 1886-O — 10,710,000 1886-S —- 750,000 1887 —— 20,290,000 1887-O —- 11,550,000 1887-S —- 1,771,000 1888 —— 19,183,000 1888-O —- 12,150,000 1888-S —- 657,000 1889 —— 21,726,000 1889-CC — 350,000 1889-O —- 11,875,000 1889-S —- 700,000 1890 —— 16,802,000 1890-CC — 2,309,041 1890-O —- 10,701,000 1890-S —- 8,230,373 1891 —— 8,693,556 1891-CC — 1,618,000 1891-O —- 7,954,529 1891-S —- 5,296,000 1892 —— 1,036,000 1892-CC — 1,352,000 1892-O —- 2,744,000 1892-S —- 1,200,000 1893 —— 378,000 1893-CC — 677,000 1893-O —- 300,000 1893-S —- 100,000 1894 —— 110,000 1894-O —- 1,723,000 1894-S —- 1,260,000 |
1895-O —– 450,000 1895-S —– 400,000 1896 —— 9,976,000 1896-O —- 4,900,000 1896-S —- 5,000,000 1897 —— 2,822,000 1897-O —- 4,004,000 1897-S —- 5,825,000 1898 —— 5,884,000 1898-O —- 4,440,000 1898-S —- 4,102,000 1899 ——– 330,000 1899-O —- 12,290,000 1899-S —– 2,562,000 1900 ——- 8,830,000 1900-O —- 12,590,000 1900-S —- 3,540,000 1901 —— 6,962,000 1901-O —- 13,320,000 1901-S —- 2,284,000 1902 —— 7,994,000 1902-O — 8,636,000 1902-S —- 1,530,000 1903 —— 4,652,000 1903-O — 4,450,000 1903-S — 1,241,000 1904 —— 2,788,000 1904-O — 3,720,000 1904-S — 2,304,000 1921 —- 44,690,000 1921-D — 20,345,000 1921-S — 21,695,000 |
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* TF = Tail Feathers |
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I have 4 1921 Morgan Silver Dollars minted with a “S” . All are in good condition. Is there a value on them ?
I have 1 1883 Morgan Silver Dollar minted with an O. It is in good shape is it worth anything.
Dear Coin Collector:
I have one 1883, one 1892, one 1889. and one 1899 Morgan Silver Dollars. I don’t know how to distinguish the O’s, the CC’s, and the S. They all are in very good condition. I don’t feel comfortable giving my address to someone I do not know. No I have used your website before. This is my first time.
i have a 1878-P Morgan Silver Dollar wondering what its worth?
I have 4 morgans 1882-s the 2 in the date looks spread out more then the other numbers was that normal for a number to be different than the others it does not look to have been hit with something it is curious thanks for any help you can give
I have a 1921 Morgan Silver Dollar. I think it is minted with an O, but it may be a D. What would one like this be worth?
i have a 1878 p mini morgan silver dollar and its in good condition you can see and read everything perfectly i was wondering how much its worth????
First off, I wanted to say well done on the Morgan history/mintage info. This page is very handy to reference mintages!
I wanted to comment to everyone here. Seems like the question is – I have xxxx Morgan Dollar, is it work anything? Yes, they’re all worth something. Silver dollars have a nice amount of silver within – almost a full ounce, and with the silver price per ounce between $30-$40/ounce, you know your very low meltdown value is that. Anything regarding condition of the coin.. or scarcity will increase that value greatly. So it’s worth ‘something’ at the very least.
Again.. great post!
MD