The Morgan Silver Dollar

Whether you\’re new to collecting coins or are an avid coin collector, you\’re probably very familiar with the Morgan Silver Dollar Coin. The Morgan is probably one of the most popular of the silver dollar coins for antique and coin collectors both amateur or professional collectors. The Morgan was minted for several years spanning from 1878 until 1904 and again for a year in 1921. The name of the coin came from the talent behind the design, which came from George T. Morgan. Morgan designed both sides of this fantastic coin. The Morgan silver dollar consists of a silver content of 0.7734 troy ounces of silver and a fineness of .900 per coin.

Design of the Morgan Silver Dollar Coin

The front of the Morgan Silver dollar coin has the head of Lady Liberty facing left with part of her hair flowing down and part of it held up by a LIBERTY headband. Morgan\’s monogram is near her neck. The top of the front has E PLURIBUS UNUM and the bottom has the date. The reverse side of the coin has an eagle with its wings spread out and its left talon holding arrows while the right side is holding branches. A laurel wreath surrounds the lower part of the eagle while IN GOD WE TRUST is above the bird. The eagle has its head turned to the right (left on the coin). The top part of this reeded-edge coin has UNITED STATES OF AMERICA while ONE DOLLAR is inscribed on the bottom.

History of the Famous Morgan Silver Dollar Coin

In the late 1850s, Nevada experienced one of the greatest silver strikes in history, which drove the price of silver down drastically. As a way to improve the economy, the Bland-Allison Act was passed by Congress to get the Treasury Department to buy large quantities of silver and make them into coins. They decided if they were going to make coins, they may as well be silver dollars as these were the coins that were most needed in circulation. The Morgan dollars were first minted, they were used for commercial use in America. Although the Trade Dollar was around at this time, it was being used for trade in the orient so the minting of the Morgan dollar continued until 1904 when there was a large enough supply but a lack of silver bullion. In 1921, minting of the Morgan Silver Dollar Coin resumed because the Pittman Act required more coins. However, that same year the Peace Commemorative Dollar replaced the Morgan. In the 1970s many Morgan Silver Dollars that were minted in Carson City were found and sold to the public by the government to be used as collectibles.

Morgan Silver Dollar Mints

The Morgan Silver Dollar Coin has been minted in San Francisco, New Orleans, Philadelphia, Denver and Carson City. The mintmark is shown on the reverse side of the coin right under the eagle\’s tail feathers and between the D & O in DOLLAR. The initials are CC for Carson City, D for Denver, S for San Francisco, O for New Orleans and no mintmark for Philadelphia.