Big, bright, and packed with history, the Morgan dollar connects western silver mines, national monetary policy, five U.S. mints, famous Treasury hoards, and one of America's most active collecting communities.
Original federal issues were struck from 1878 through 1904 and once more in 1921. Modern Morgan dollars beginning in 2021 form a separate collector program.
Core specifications
- Original coinage
- 1878–1904, 1921
- Producing mints
- 5
- Recorded catalog mintage
- 656,905,366
- Pure silver per coin
- 0.77344 oz
- Diameter
- 38.1 mm
- Weight
- 26.73 g
Born from a national argument over silver
The Coinage Act of 1873 ended the old standard silver dollar. As western mines produced more silver, miners and their political allies pushed for a renewed outlet for the metal. Congress answered with the Bland–Allison Act of 1878, directing the Treasury to buy silver and coin it into dollars.
Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan created the new design. The dollars circulated unevenly, so enormous quantities remained in Treasury vaults even as production continued. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 increased government silver buying; its repeal in 1893 helped bring the high-output era toward a close.
Regular production stopped after 1904. The Pittman Act of 1918 authorized the melting of up to 350,000,000 silver dollars, and official records report 270,232,722 destroyed. Replacement coinage brought the Morgan design back for one final mass-production year in 1921 before the Peace dollar took over.
A portrait, an eagle, and a tiny mint mark
Morgan's design is bold enough for a first-time collector and detailed enough to reward close study. Start with the date, then turn the coin over and check the space below the wreath bow for a mint mark.
Liberty in profile
Liberty faces left wearing a cap, a ribbon reading LIBERTY, and a crown of cotton and wheat—an American agricultural treatment of a classical portrait. E PLURIBUS UNUM arcs above; the date sits below.
Eagle within a wreath
An eagle with outstretched wings holds arrows and an olive branch. IN GOD WE TRUST appears above it, with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA and ONE DOLLAR around the rim. The mint mark, when present, is below the wreath bow.
Where Morgan dollars were made
The same design tells five different production stories. Totals below are calculated from this catalog's issue records; a mint mark alone never guarantees rarity.
- P — Philadelphia: 1878–1904, 1921; 305,498,423. No mint mark. The largest total and the center of the design's development.
- O — New Orleans: 1879–1904; 186,137,529. The O mark sits below the wreath. Strike sharpness varies widely, which makes surface and detail especially important.
- S — San Francisco: 1878–1904, 1921; 131,158,373. Many early S-mint coins are celebrated for strong strikes, while several later dates are major condition challenges.
- D — Denver: 1921 only; 20,345,000. The only Denver Morgan dollar is the 1921-D—the first regular U.S. silver dollar struck there.
- CC — Carson City: 1878–1885, 1889–1893; 13,766,041. The compact CC mark links the series to Nevada's Comstock silver and the later GSA Treasury sales.
Key dates—and why they are not all rare in the same way
These are useful signposts, not a shopping list. Authentication and accurate grading matter most when a date carries a large premium.
- 1893-S — 100,000. The lowest reported business-strike mintage in the series and a heavily counterfeited or altered target.
- 1889-CC — 350,000. A famous low-mintage CC issue whose value changes dramatically across grades and surface quality.
- 1894 Philadelphia — 110,972. A very small Philadelphia output that illustrates why late-series dates deserve close attention.
- 1895 Proof — 880 proofs. Mint records list business strikes, but none are authenticated today; collectors recognize the surviving Philadelphia issue as proof-only.
- 1921-D — 20,345,000. Not rare by mintage, but historically distinct as Denver's only Morgan dollar.
What does “VAM” mean?
VAM is the collector shorthand for the die-pair catalog begun by Leroy Van Allen and A. George Mallis. A VAM number identifies a particular obverse-and-reverse die combination—not automatically an error, a rarity, or a valuable coin.
The 1878 Philadelphia issues are the friendliest doorway: 8 Tail Feathers, 7 Tail Feathers, and 7 Over 8 changes are visible stories of a design being revised during production.
Issue catalog
Five sensible starting paths
- One attractive type coin: Choose a problem-free circulated or lower Mint State example and learn the design before chasing a rare date.
- A coin from every mint: Collect P, CC, O, S, and D to turn mint marks into a compact tour of the series.
- The 1921 trio: Philadelphia, Denver, and San Francisco make a historically neat final-year group.
- Carson City focus: Build around CC issues and GSA provenance, while remembering that CC does not mean every date is equally rare.
- VAM study: Pick one date and learn its die markers. Specialization is more rewarding than trying to memorize the whole VAM catalog at once.
Vault bags, melting, and the GSA effect
Many Morgan dollars spent decades in government vaults rather than in everyday commerce. That unusual storage history explains why some dates with large mintages remain plentiful in Mint State, while other dates are genuinely elusive or difficult above circulated grades.
The Pittman Act officially removed 270,232,722 silver dollars, but the surviving pieces were not evenly distributed by date and mint. Treasury releases in the 1960s and the later GSA sales brought sealed bags and many Carson City coins into the collector market, permanently reshaping availability and interest.
Modern Morgan dollars, 2021 to date
The U.S. Mint revived the Morgan design in 2021 for a modern collector program. These coins use .999 fine silver and modern specifications, so they should not be mixed into an 1878–1921 date-and-mint checklist. The 2021 O and CC symbols are privy marks honoring the former mints; those coins were struck at Philadelphia, not at reopened branch mints.
A note on mintage records
Historical references do not always agree. The local catalog currently records 9,744,000 for 1878-S and 378,792 for 1893 Philadelphia, while PCGS references publish 9,774,000 and 389,000 respectively. World Coin Book keeps the imported issue figures visible and flags the disagreement instead of silently forcing a false consensus.
Sources
- Dollar Coins — United States Mint
- One Hundred Years of Silver Dollar Coinage (1878–1978) — United States Mint
- The Coinage Act of 1873 and the ‘Crime of 1873’ — United States Mint
- Morgan and Peace Dollar Anniversary Coins — United States Mint
- Morgan and Peace Silver Dollar Coin Program — United States Mint
- Silver Dollar Melted under the Pittman Act — U.S. Government Publishing Office
- GSA Sales of Carson City Silver Dollars — U.S. Government Accountability Office
- A Discussion of Five Mints — PCGS
- Variety Attribution FAQ — PCGS
- Morgan Silver Dollars (1878–1921) — PCGS
- 1895 Morgan Dollar — PCGS CoinFacts
- 1893-S Morgan Dollar — PCGS CoinFacts