1896-O Morgan Silver Dollar
Circulation strike struck at the New Orleans Mint · 4,900,000 made
- Mintage
- 4,900,000
- Metal
- 90% silver, 10% copper
- Weight
- 26.73 g
- Diameter
- 38.1 mm
Original illustration. Tap to flip. Not a photograph of the actual coin.
Face value · Metal value · Small premium · Collector premium · Significant rarity. We use bands because prices change daily.
What is an 1896-O Morgan Silver Dollar worth?
In worn condition it trades for about its silver content, 0.7735 troy ounces. Uncirculated coins with full luster or attractive toning sell for more.
What would make yours worth more:
- Uncirculated condition with full original luster
- Prooflike or deep mirror fields (PL, DMPL)
- A die variety or minting error
For market prices, check recent sold results for certified coins in the same grade.
Quick answers
- Is the 1896-O Morgan Silver Dollar rare?
- No. 4.9 million were made, a typical run for the series. Condition and varieties decide its value, not the date.
- Is the 1896-O Morgan Silver Dollar silver?
- Yes. It's 90% silver, 10% copper and holds 0.7735 troy ounces of pure silver.
- Where is the mint mark on an 1896 Morgan Silver Dollar?
- On the reverse, below the wreath and above the letters "DO" in DOLLAR. Philadelphia coins have no mint mark. On this coin the mark is O, for New Orleans.
- Which New Orleans dates near 1896 are scarcer?
- The 1893-O at 300,000, the 1895-O at 450,000, the 1894-O at 1,723,000, plus 3 more. So the 1896-O is one of the easier dates of its stretch.
- How many 1896-O Morgan Silver Dollar coins were made?
- 4,900,000.
What to check on your 1896-O
- Make sure the mint mark really is a O. A worn or filled mark can be misread. It's what separates your coin from the 1896-S (5 million made).
- Don't clean it. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine that collectors avoid.
- Old coins pick up damage over a long life. Look for holes, bends, scratches or signs of cleaning before you judge the grade, because a damaged coin sells for a fraction of a problem-free one.
- Judge the grade under good light. Look at the hair above Liberty's ear, the cheek and the breast feathers on the eagle. Prooflike (PL) and Deep Mirror Prooflike (DMPL) surfaces add large premiums.
Circulated examples are usually traded for their silver content. Pick out the best ones: original luster and attractive toning lift a coin above melt, while cleaned coins lose most of their collector value. New Orleans Morgan dollars are known for weak strikes in the center, so well-struck O-mint coins command a premium.
The story of the 1896-O
New Orleans ramped up hard in 1896: 4,900,000 coins, about 11 times the 1895 run. The next year it made 4 million (1897-O).
1896-S came to 5 million and 1896 came to 10 million, so neither mint's 1896 coin is much scarcer than the other.
New Orleans struck the Morgan Silver Dollar in 26 issues between 1879 and 1904. By mintage this one lands in the scarcer half, while the key for that mint is the 1893-O (300,000). Within the 1890s it's 23rd smallest of 34, between the 1898-O (4.4 million) and the 1896-S (5 million).
Low Philadelphia mintages and the Treasury releases (1894 to 1904)
With the Sherman Act repealed in 1893, the Mint coined silver it had already bought. Philadelphia struck only 110,000 in 1894. For 1895 only about 880 proofs are confirmed, since the business strikes reported for that year have never been found. That makes the 1895 the most famous Morgan date. Output rose again from 1896, with New Orleans passing 12 million in 1899, 1900 and 1901.
New Orleans coins such as the 1898-O, 1903-O and 1904-O were long thought rare until Treasury vault releases in 1962 to 1964 put sealed bags into collectors' hands. Philadelphia's 1899 run of 330,000 and the 1895-O and 1895-S remain scarce. The 1901 from Philadelphia is common worn but rare uncirculated. Coinage ended in 1904 when the bullion bought under the Sherman Act ran out.
How to recognize it
George T. Morgan's Liberty faces left wearing a cap with wheat and cotton and a band inscribed LIBERTY, with E PLURIBUS UNUM above and the date below. The reverse shows an eagle with outstretched wings holding arrows and an olive branch above a wreath, with IN GOD WE TRUST above it. The mint mark is below the wreath, above the DO of DOLLAR.
Mintage chart
Specifications
| Series | Morgan Silver Dollar (1878–present) |
|---|---|
| Year | 1896 |
| Mint | New Orleans Mint |
| Mint mark | "O" |
| Strike type | Circulation strike |
| Mintage | 4,900,000 |
| Face value | $1 |
| Composition | 90% silver, 10% copper |
| Weight | 26.73 grams |
| Diameter | 38.1 mm |
| Edge | Reeded |
| Silver content | 0.7735 troy oz (24.057 g) |
| Designer | George T. Morgan |
Other 1896 Morgan Silver Dollar issues
| Coin | Mintage | Type | Silver |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1896 Morgan Silver Dollar | 9,976,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1896-S Morgan Silver Dollar | 5,000,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
| 1896-O Morgan Silver Dollar | 4,900,000 | Circulation strike | 0.7735 oz |
Mintage: Morgan dollar (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0), compiled from US Mint records and the Guide Book of United States Coins. How we build these pages.