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Specifications Designer George T. Morgan Obverse Lady Liberty Reverse Eagle holding arrows and olive branch Edge Reeded Weight 26.73 grams Diameter 38.1 millimeters Composition Silver (90%), Copper (10%) Date(s) 1878 - 1921

The Morgan Dollar was struck from 1878 to 1921– or a more accurate picture would be, struck from 1878 to 1904, then resurrected for one more comeback in 1921 before passing into history.

Specifications

• Designer: George T. Morgan
• Obverse Design: Lady Liberty
• Reverse Design: Eagle holding arrows and olive branch
• Edge: Reeded
• Weight: 26.73 grams
• Diameter: 38.1 millimeters
• Composition: Silver (90%), Copper (10%)

Background

Is there any collector of U.S. coins that DOESN’T want at least one Morgan dollar in their collection? Even if your specialty is Indian cents or Buffalo nickels, chances are you still made a place in your collection for a Morgan silver dollar. Let’s face it, the Morgan dollar is the very symbol of U.S. coin collecting. It is THE “Cover Girl” of books and magazines about United States coins.

The Morgan dollar is a big silver coin– in fact, the BIGGEST U.S. coin (along with other types of U.S. silver dollars of course) you’re likely to own. The Morgan dollar has an absolutely beautiful classic design (some consider it to be one of the top two or three most beautiful of all U.S. coins). And, the Morgan dollar circulated, for the most part, during the 1800's. In fact, you could say the Morgan dollar is a coin of the “Old West,” as they were around during the tumultuous years of 1878 to 1890 when such outlaws as Butch Cassidy, Black Bart, and Billy the Kid were running amok; there were silver strikes out in the Sierra Nevada, and horrific battles between the U.S. Calvary and the Indians out West.

There’s another reason why Morgan dollars are so popular with collectors, beside the fact that these are big, beautiful silver coins with a lot of history behind them. They are readily available at ridiculously low prices. Still! Get this: you can purchase an 1880 Morgan dollar in Fine condition for around $15-$18! But it gets better. Surely a mint state 1880 Morgan silver dollar – a huge silver coin with 126 years of history behind it– will cost a few hundred dollars! Wrong. An uncirculated 1880 Morgan dollar, as of this writing, retails only $35! Granted, that’s for a BASIC mint-state coin (as opposed to nearly perfect and without flaws) but an uncirculated 1880 silver dollar nonetheless!

In other words, you get a lot of coin for your money. In fact, virtually all the dates in the Morgan dollar series can be purchased for roughly those amounts– only the dates of 1893 and 1895 would be exceptions. The caveat here would be, almost all dates are easily affordable, but not all date and mint combinations are easily affordable. For example, an 1889 Morgan dollar struck at the Philadelphia Mint should only set you back $20 in Very Fine condition. An 1889 Morgan dollar struck at the Carson City Mint, on the other hand, will set you back $2,000 in the same condition!

As I’ve said before, Morgan dollars are readily available on the coin market. Look through any coin magazine and you’ll see ad after ad where MANY Morgan dollars are up for sale. The truth is, millions upon millions of Morgan silver dollars were struck. And even though millions have been melted over the years, millions still survive. One reason for this is simple: you don’t easily lose a big silver dollar like you would a penny, dime or nickel. These big silver coins tend to be saved– at least those that escape the melting pot. But another reason for the high survival rate is that these coins, simply, did not circulate that much. Sure they saw some use– they were surely popular in the gambling houses of the old West– but people of 100 years ago are much like people today: they don’t like to carry around big heavy coins. Consequently, bags and bags of newly-struck Morgan silver dollars never saw circulation. They languished in bank vaults, only to be released gradually over the years.

History

Morgan dollars were struck in a variety of U.S. mints. They were struck in Philadelphia (no mintmark), New Orleans (O mintmark), San Francisco (S mintmark), and Carson City (CC mintmark). The Carson City Morgan dollars have exploded in popularity in the last few years. Perhaps online coin chatter has enlightened collectors as to the fascinating old West history associated with the Carson City dollars. It’s easy to imagine such silver dollars circulating on the streets of the Sierra Nevada haven of Carson City, as well as on the streets of nearby Virginia City, “Las Vegas of the 1800's.” In fact, the Carson City Morgan dollars are the only Morgan dollars where every coin from that particular mint is an in-demand coin!

After the demise of the Morgan dollar in 1921, many people held onto their Morgan dollars as souvenirs. It wasn’t until the 1960's that Morgan dollars really got promoted as collectibles, but even then, they could be purchased for just a little over face value, so many were available. Morgan dollars received another huge boost in popularity around 1980, when an investment team tried to corner the market on silver, and silver shot up to $50 an ounce! Prices for even common Morgan dollars skyrocketed, but gradually came way down as the 80's progressed.

Today, Morgan dollars are still popular as an investment coin, but don’t look to get rich on the common dates (like our proverbial 1880-P dollar) or common conditions. Knowledgeable Morgan dollar collectors are seeking the scarce date/mintmark combinations. Such would be the 1889-CC, 1893-S, 1894-P, any 1895-dated dollar, and the 1903-O, to name a few. But if these rare dates aren’t available, a lot of collectors seek out Morgan dollars in uncommonly nice condition. They don’t want just basic “mint-state” (MS60-63) Morgan dollars– those are common. What they seek out are a the REALLY high mint-state dollars, (MS64 or higher). Even more desired are Morgan dollars with “proof-like” (almost a mirror type finish) dollars or dollars with beautiful natural toning– orange, red, green, purple. These are what as known as Morgan dollars with killer “eye appeal.”

The Morgan dollar was succeeded in 1921 by the Peace dollar. The Peace dollar, struck 1921 to 1935, is also a beautiful silver dollar, but many consider it to be less beautiful than the Morgan dollar. What’s more, the Peace dollar’s low-relief design is not nearly as eye-catching as the Morgan dollar’s bold-relief design. So after seeing dollar coins like the Peace dollar, followed by the even much less impressive Eisenhower dollar (clad, not silver), the Susan B. Anthony dollar and the Sacagawea dollar, the collector community appreciates the Morgan dollar now more than ever.

Morgan Dollar Price Guide

Year	Morgan Dollars	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	XF40	AU50	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68	MS69	MS70
1878	1878 (8TF)	39	41	42	45	51	60	68	70	90	115	132	168	240	505	2.2k	12.4k	47k	$	$	$
	1878 (7TF)	38	42	44	45	47	50	53	55	64	77	80	85	110	300	1.6k	7.1k	$	$	$	$
	1878-CC	105	115	125	130	145	155	160	170	190	220	265	280	400	600	2.1k	7.1k	32.5k	$	$	$
	1878-S	33	34	35	36	37	37	38	38	40	50	60	68	86	122	330	1.2k	13.5k	$	$	$
1879	1879	34	35	36	38	39	41	42	43	46	49	53	55	74	185	1.1k	3.9k	45k	$	$	$
	1879-CC	175	205	245	455	950	1.4	1.9k	2.7k	3.4k	4.1k	4.9k	5.3k	7k	12k	33.4k	65k	$	$	$	$
	1879-O	34	34	34	35	35	36	38	40	80	100	115	130	220	600	4.8k	25k	$	$	$	$
	1879-S	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	35	43	48	51	53	71	105	200	450	1.1k	5k	$	$
1880	1880	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	35	39	44	48	51	75	138	1k	3.1k	$	$	$	$
	1880-CC	175	200	225	255	300	305	310	325	385	440	490	550	600	800	1.4k	2,8k	18k	$	$	$
	1880-O	34	34	34	35	35	37	40	41	62	89	135	150	410	2.9k	28k	68k	$	$	$	$
	1880-S	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	35	38	45	49	53	71	105	215	460	1.2k	4,8k	34k	$
1881	1881	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	37	40	48	53	75	145	700	4.9k	12k	$	$	$
	1881-CC	400	450	500	505	510	515	520	535	540	540	545	550	580	650	1k	1.6k	6.8k	33k	$	$
	1881-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	40	48	53	80	200	2k	22k	$	$	$	$
	1881-S	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	44	48	53	71	103	205	460	1.2k	40k	$	$
1882	1882	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	37	39	48	53	71	110	610	2.2k	23.5k	$	$	$
	1882-CC	100	110	120	130	155	164	170	190	193	198	200	215	240	310	550	1.5k	11k	45k	$	$
	1882-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	41	48	53	75	125	1.5k	11.3k	30k	58k	$	$
	1882-S	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	43	48	53	71	105	200	460	1.3k	5.1k	$	$
Year	Morgan Dollars	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	XF40	AU50	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68	MS69	MS70
1883	1883	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	42	48	53	71	105	215	700	3.8k	16k	$	$
	1883-CC	100	110	120	135	155	160	168	175	183	190	200	215	235	290	550	1.2k	5.1k	29k	$	$
	1883-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	43	48	53	71	105	205	630	5.1k	$	$	$
	1883-S	37	38	39	43	50	82	110	185	540	800	950	1.4k	2.8k	5.5k	36k	68k	200k	$	$	$
1884	1884	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	43	48	53	71	115	315	1.3k	6.3k	$	$	$
	1884-CC	145	155	165	180	205	208	213	215	218	220	223	225	235	285	520	975	5.3k	41k	$	$
	1884-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	40	43	48	53	71	100	210	500	3.2k	14k	$	$
	1884-S	38	39	40	53	70	210	490	730	5.5k	10.3k	18k	25k	50k	125k	250k	330k	500k	939k	$	$
1885	1885	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	40	48	53	71	100	210	490	2.3k	16k	$	$
	1885-CC	600	612	615	623	630	637	643	645	648	652	659	665	680	730	1.3k	3.2k	15.1k	41k	$	$
	1885-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	43	48	53	71	105	225	500	2.8k	7k	$	$
	1885-S	37	40	42	54	75	91	122	135	148	183	215	275	350	700	2.3k	8.2k	32.5k	$	$	$
1886	1886	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	43	48	53	71	105	210	515	1.9k	12k	$	$
	1886-O	36	37	39	44	50	81	112	148	390	645	1k	1.8k	3.8k	11.5k	190k	532k	$	$	$	$
	1886-S	48	52	74	90	120	165	180	200	250	300	350	400	550	950	3.2k	10k	29k	$	$	$
1887	1887	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	37	40	48	53	72	110	215	500	3k	27k	$	$
	1887-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	38	40	50	60	70	80	135	420	3.1k	35k	$	$	$	$
	1887-S	37	39	41	45	49	51	57	61	80	115	135	185	300	710	3k	8.2k	$	$	$	$
Year	Morgan Dollars	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	XF40	AU50	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68	MS69	MS70
1888	1888	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	44	46	49	53	71	120	250	1.3k	14.5k	$	$	$
	1888-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	43	48	53	75	128	700	3k	12k	$	$	$
	1888-S	145	160	185	225	270	273	274	275	285	290	310	390	500	1k	3.3k	12k	29k	$	$	$
1889	1889	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	42	48	53	71	110	400	2.4k	20k	35k	$	$
	1889-CC	475	625	900	1.8k	2.9k	4.3k	6.9k	8.5k	13.1k	18.6k	23k	31k	42k	83k	285k	505k	537k	625k	$	$
	1889-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	46	96	132	180	225	425	1.2k	6.8k	17.5k	$	$	$	$
	1889-S	44	50	64	73	95	105	113	125	180	210	240	275	380	700	2.1k	6.1k	30k	$	$	$
1890	1890	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	42	48	53	83	155	2.4k	23k	30k	$	$	$
	1890-CC	95	100	115	165	200	225	260	275	320	385	410	585	850	1.6k	6.3k	22.5k	40k	$	$	$
	1890-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	38	44	50	68	76	130	400	2.6k	8.5k	$	$	$	$
	1890-S	34	34	34	34	35	35	39	42	50	58	64	78	122	300	1.3k	4.8k	17.5k	$	$	$
1891	1891	34	34	34	34	35	35	38	42	61	75	83	94	200	1k	7k	18k	40k	$	$	$
	1891-CC	95	100	112	155	200	220	240	260	320	366	400	525	775	1.5k	5.2k	17k	37.5k	$	$	$
	1891-O	34	34	34	35	35	38	48	52	84	98	112	200	350	1.3k	8.3k	42k	$	$	$	$
	1891-S	34	34	34	35	35	38	40	42	58	62	78	90	165	310	1.8k	6.2k	15.5k	$	$	$
1892	1892	38	40	41	45	50	61	77	83	95	110	185	260	500	1.3k	5.3k	43k	$	$	$	$
	1892-CC	220	250	285	330	600	710	800	950	1.1k	1.2k	1.4k	1.7k	2k	3k	9.5k	38k	80k	$	$	$
	1892-O	37	38	41	45	50	59	68	73	130	185	200	250	400	1.2k	7k	45k	80k	$	$	$
	1892-S	37	40	54	330	500	2.1k	4k	5k	12k	29k	38k	55k	80k	125k	165k	250k	477k	550k	$	$
Year	Morgan Dollars	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	XF40	AU50	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68	MS69	MS70
1893	1893	210	238	255	285	320	350	380	430	470	510	730	800	1.3k	2.4k	7k	47.5k	$	$	$	$
	1893-CC	250	320	400	780	1.4k	1.8k	2.1k	2.4k	2.7k	3.1k	3.8k	4.4k	6k	12k	70k	95k	188k	$	$	$
	1893-O	145	195	240	510	650	800	900	1k	1.8k	2.3k	3.4k	4k	8k	18k	225k	375k	$	$	$	$
	1893-S	2.5k	3.3k	4k	6.1k	8.5k	13.5k	22k	35k	68k	83k	110k	145k	190k	350k	650k	771k	1,000k	$	$	$
1894	1894	825	900	1.1k	1.2k	1.4k	1.6k	1.8k	2.2k	2.4k	2.8k	3.2k	4.4k	6k	10k	48k	85k	100k	$	$	$
	1894-O	44	50	60	110	150	210	280	350	510	950	1.4k	2.1k	4.2k	11.4k	65k	101k	156l	$	$	$
	1894-S	54	71	84	110	165	290	380	550	600	690	710	850	1.3k	2k	6k	16k	27.5k	$	$	$
1895	1895-O	275	320	400	505	625	1.3k	1.9k	2.3k	8.2k	13.4k	19.8k	28k	55k	90k	168k	360k	585k	$	$	$
	1895-S	425	510	600	875	1.1k	1.8k	2.1k	2.6k	2.9	3.2k	3.3k	5k	6.5k	9k	28k	85k	$	$	$	$
1896	1896	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	41	48	53	71	105	270	950	8k	$	$	$
	1896-O	37	39	41	50	65	110	190	280	750	1.1k	2k	3k	9.5k	45k	195k	360k	$	$	$	$
	1896-S	39	42	49	132	250	490	810	1k	1.3k	1.8k	2.1k	2.7k	3.5k	6k	25k	80k	125k	$	500k	$
1897	1897	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	43	48	53	71	110	450	1.8k	8.6k	$	$	$
	1897-O	37	39	41	50	60	110	190	250	890	1.1k	1.8k	2k	5k	25k	60k	90k	150k	$	$	$
	1897-S	37	38	39	42	46	48	49	50	55	62	70	85	125	200	700	2k	9k	26k	$	$
Year	Morgan Dollars	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	XF40	AU50	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68	MS69	MS70
1898	1898	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	43	48	53	71	120	390	900	7k	$	$	$
	1898-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	43	49	53	71	110	200	520	2.4k	$	$	$
	1898-S	37	39	42	52	65	85	94	120	180	290	320	340	500	800	2.4k	6k	26k	$	$	$
1899	1899	165	180	210	235	255	249	261	270	280	293	301	310	355	500	1k	2.8k	8.5k	$	$	$
	1899-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	48	50	54	71	110	230	540	3k	25k	$	$
	1899-S	37	40	44	52	70	95	110	135	220	280	330	390	520	925	2.1k	4.7k	19.5k	$	$	$
1900	1900	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	38	43	49	53	71	110	265	900	12k	$	$	$
	1900-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	41	48	50	53	71	110	200	800	5k	$	$	$
	1900-S	37	38	41	48	55	64	80	97	135	210	280	335	415	700	1.7k	3.8k	25k	$	$	$
1901	1901	39	43	49	76	120	390	590	800	1.9k	3.8k	4.3k	5.6k	18k	65k	450k	465k	$	$	$	$
	1901-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	41	48	53	71	110	300	1.1k	32.5k	$	$	$
	1901-S	39	41	44	55	65	105	135	235	290	390	490	595	750	1.3k	4k	12.1k	40k	$	$	$
1902	1902	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	40	48	51	63	75	135	200	600	1.3k	12k	$	$	$
	1902-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	40	49	51	53	71	110	230	950	13k	$	$	$
	1902-S	65	73	95	120	230	260	295	305	380	440	475	510	700	1k	4k	8k	32.5k	$	$	$
Year	Morgan Dollars	G4	VG8	F12	VF20	XF40	AU50	AU53	AU55	AU58	MS60	MS61	MS62	MS63	MS64	MS65	MS66	MS67	MS68	MS69	MS70
1903	1903	44	50	54	59	69	70	71	72	78	80	90	99	117	155	360	800	3k	$	$	$
	1903-O	400	405	410	410	420	430	440	450	452	453	454	455	485	540	700	1.2k	4.5k	$	$	$
	1903-S	90	115	140	285	415	900k	1.3k	2.5k	3.3k	4k	4.6k	5.1k	6.4k	8.1k	12k	22.5k	75k	$	$	$
1904	1904	36	38	42	45	50	51	52	54	66	89	123	175	300	700	4.1k	12.5k	$	$	$	$
	1904-O	34	34	34	34	35	35	35	35	39	44	48	53	71	110	215	700	4.3k	$	$	$
	1904-S	44	48	59	110	250	330	490	665	990	1.2k	2.1k	2.8k	3.9k	5.7k	11.8k	30k	50k	$	$	$
1921	1921	33	33	33	33	34	34	34	34	40	48	51	53	68	95	235	2k	12k	$	$	$
	1921-D	33	33	33	33	34	34	34	34	38	43	50	57	79	165	495	2.1k	25k	$	$	$
	1921-S	33	33	33	33	34	34	34	34	41	50	54	58	84	170	1.8k	9.5k	$	$	$	$

Mints

• Philadelphia Mint (no mintmark)
• New Orleans Mint (O mintmark)
• San Francisco Mint (S mintmark)
• Carson City Mint (CC mintmark)

Grading

External Links

• Amazon.com A Guide Book Of U.S. Morgan Silver Dollars: A Complete History and Price Guide
• The Coin Site 1878-1921 Silver Dollar Morgan
• Amazon.com A Comprehensive Catalog & Encyclopedia of Morgan & Peace Dollars