US Dollar Coins Values & Mintages

Silver dollars before the Morgan

The first US silver dollars, with Robert Scot's Flowing Hair design, were struck in 1794. The Draped Bust dollar followed from 1795 to 1803. Coinage then stopped for more than three decades, partly because the coins were being exported and melted. The famous 1804 dollars were actually struck around 1834 for presentation sets given to foreign rulers. Christian Gobrecht's dollars of 1836 to 1839 revived the denomination and led to the Seated Liberty dollar of 1840 to 1873.

The Coinage Act of 1873 dropped the standard silver dollar and created the trade dollar for commerce in Asia. Silver mining interests called the act the Crime of '73. The Bland-Allison Act of 1878 forced the Treasury to buy silver and coin it into dollars again, which produced George T. Morgan's design.

Melting and revival in the twentieth century

Millions of Morgan dollars piled up in Treasury vaults because few people wanted the heavy coins. The Pittman Act of 1918 authorized melting silver dollars to supply silver to Britain and later required new dollars to replace them. More than 270 million were melted. The replacement coinage of 1921 began with the last Morgans and then the Peace dollar, which ended in 1935.

In 2021 the Mint struck 99.9% silver Morgan and Peace dollars for collectors to mark the centennial of the 1921 transition. Some 2021 Morgans carry a small CC or O privy mark to honor the Carson City and New Orleans mints, though they were struck elsewhere.

The small dollar experiments

The Eisenhower dollar of 1971 to 1978 kept the large 38.1 millimeter size but was made of copper-nickel clad for circulation. The Susan B. Anthony dollar of 1979 to 1981 and 1999 shrank to 26.5 millimeters, but its silver color and reeded edge made it easy to confuse with a quarter. The Sacagawea dollar of 2000 used the same size with a golden manganese brass surface and a plain edge so people could tell it apart by sight and touch.

The Presidential dollars of 2007 to 2016, with George H. W. Bush added in 2020, placed the date, mint mark and at first the motto on the edge. American Innovation dollars from 2018 honor an innovation or innovator from each state and territory.

How dollar coins compare

Morgan, Peace and Eisenhower dollars all measure 38.1 millimeters. A 90% silver Morgan or Peace dollar weighs 26.73 grams, while a clad Eisenhower dollar weighs 22.68 grams. All the small dollars from 1979 on share a 26.5 millimeter diameter. Golden dollars weigh 8.1 grams. Susan B. Anthony dollars weigh 8.1 grams as well but have the silver color of copper-nickel clad.

How to start collecting dollar coins

The Peace dollar is a manageable classic silver set of 24 regular-issue coins from 1921 to 1935. Morgan dollars are usually collected by type first, then by date and mint as budgets allow, with the Carson City dates as a popular subset. Look for wear on Liberty's cheek and the eagle's breast. Prooflike Morgans with mirrored fields are a specialty of their own.

Modern dollars are the cheapest way to build a long set. Presidential and Innovation dollars can be collected in P and D versions from Mint rolls. When buying golden dollars, look for even color, since handling turns the brass surface dull and blotchy.

The 1964 silver dollar rush

For decades anyone could exchange a silver certificate for a silver dollar at the Treasury. In 1962 and 1963 the Treasury opened long-sealed bags of Morgan and Peace dollars and paid them out, revealing dates once thought rare. As silver prices rose, crowds lined up to redeem certificates and the Treasury stopped paying out silver dollars in March 1964. The remaining coins, including the Carson City dollars later sold by the General Services Administration, stayed in government hands.

On Morgan dollars the mint mark sits on the reverse above the DO of DOLLAR. On Peace dollars it is at lower left near the tip of the eagle's wing. Eisenhower dollars show it on the obverse above the date and Presidential dollars carry it on the edge.

Frequently asked questions