Learn about the Morgan Silver Dollar Design Elements.
The Morgan dollar is a United States dollar coin minted from 1878 to 1904, in 1921, and beginning again in 2021. It was the first standard silver dollar minted since the passage of the Coinage Act of 1873, which ended the free coining of silver and the production of the previous design, the Seated Liberty dollar. It contained 412.5 grains of 90% pure silver (or 371.25 gr = 24.056 g = 0.7735 oz t of pure silver). The coin is named after its designer, United States Mint Assistant Engraver George T. Morgan. The obverse depicts a profile portrait representing Liberty, modeled by Anna Willess Williams, while the reverse depicts an eagle with wings outstretched. The mint mark, if present, appears on the reverse above between D and O in “Dollar”.
The Morgan dollars were produced every year between 1878 and 1904 at a total of four different mints. Each mint, with the exception of Philadelphia, has its own mint mark. In 1921 production was resumed for one year only, with this year being the only one where the Denver mint was used, until 2021. The number of dollars surviving are unknown as the Pittman Act resulted in the melting of millions of these coins, and the individual dates melted were never recorded. PCGS CoinFacts estimates survivals are less than 10% of the mintage.
| Year | Philadelphia | New Orleans | San Francisco | Carson City | Denver |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1878 | 10,508,800 | 9,774,000 | 2,212,000 | ||
| 1879 | 14,806,000 | 2,887,000 | 9,110,000 | 756,000 | |
| 1880 | 12,600,000 | 5,305,000 | 8,900,000 | 495,000 | |
| 1881 | 9,163,000 | 5,708,000 | 12,760,000 | 296,000 | |
| 1882 | 11,100,000 | 6,090,000 | 9,250,000 | 1,133,000 | |
| 1883 | 12,290,000 | 8,725,000 | 6,250,000 | 1,204,000 | |
| 1884 | 14,070,000 | 9,730,000 | 3,200,000 | 1,136,000 | |
| 1885 | 17,787,000 | 9,185,000 | 1,497,000 | 228,000 | |
| 1886 | 19,963,000 | 10,710,000 | 750,000 | ||
| 1887 | 20,290,000 | 11,550,000 | 1,771,000 | ||
| 1888 | 19,183,000 | 12,150,000 | 657,000 | ||
| 1889 | 21,726,000 | 11,875,000 | 700,000 | 350,000 | |
| 1890 | 16,802,000 | 10,701,100 | 8,230,373 | 2,309,041 | |
| 1891 | 8,693,556 | 7,954,529 | 5,296,000 | 1,618,000 | |
| 1892 | 1,036,000 | 2,744,000 | 1,200,000 | 1,352,000 | |
| 1893 | 378,000 | 300,000 | 100,000 | 677,000 | |
| 1894 | 110,000 | 1,723,000 | 1,260,000 | ||
| 1895 | 880 (proof only) | 450,000 | 400,000 | ||
| 1896 | 9,976,000 | 4,900,000 | 5,000,000 | ||
| 1897 | 2,822,000 | 4,004,000 | 5,825,000 | ||
| 1898 | 5,884,000 | 4,400,000 | 4,102,000 | ||
| 1899 | 330,000 | 12,290,000 | 2,562,000 | ||
| 1900 | 8,830,000 | 12,590,000 | 3,540,000 | ||
| 1901 | 6,962,000 | 13,320,000 | 2,284,000 | ||
| 1902 | 7,994,000 | 8,636,000 | 1,530,000 | ||
| 1903 | 4,652,000 | 4,450,000 | 1,241,000 | ||
| 1904 | 2,788,000 | 3,720,000 | 2,304,000 | ||
| 1921 | 44,690,000 | 21,695,000 | 20,345,000 | ||
| 2021 | 175,000 (no mark) 175,000 (O privy) 175,000 (CC privy) |
175,000 | 175,000 | ||
| Total | 305,971,347 | 186,097,629 | 131,363,373 | 13,766,041 | 20,520,000 |
Note that of the 2021 Philadelphia Morgan Dollars, a third were minted with a “CC” privy mark and a third were minted with an “O” privy mark.
The Carson City Mint
THE GSA AUCTIONS
A series of five mail bid sales were conducted between October 31, 1972 and June 30, 1974. Two additional sales were held in 1980 to dispose of some remaining, unsold coins. For the first series of mail bid sales, minimum bids for uncirculated coins in date categories were as follows:
- 1878-CC: $15
- 1879-CC: $300
- 1880-CC, 1881-CC, 1885-CC: $60
- 1882-CC, 1883-CC, 1884-CC, 1890-CC, 1891-CC: $30
- Mixed CC: $15
- Mixed Uncirculated: $5
- Mixed Circulated: $3
| GSA Inventory of Carson City Morgan Dollars | ||
|---|---|---|
| 1878-CC: 60,993 | 1883-CC: 755,518 | 1891-CC: 5,687 |
| 1879-CC: 4,123 | 1884-CC: 962,638 | 1892-CC: 1 |
| 1880-CC: 131,529 | 1885-CC: 148,285 | 1893-CC: 1 |
| 1881-CC: 147,485 | 1889-CC: 1 | |
| 1882-CC: 605,029 | 1890-CC: 3,949 |
Social Contact