Morgan Silver Dollar History

The greatest silver finding in US history was known as The Comstock Lode, it was discovered in Nevada in the late 1850's under what is now Virginia City. Between 1859 and 1878, it yielded about $400 million in silver and gold. This immense fortune depressed silver prices on a global scale for many years to come. In an effort to inflate sagging silver prices and subsidize the mountain states. Congress passed the Bland-Allison Act. This act mandated the Treasury Department to purchase vast amounts of silver and strike it as coins. For economic reasons, the Treasury chose to strike the silver as dollars.

The first Morgan silver dollar was minted in 1878, it was the first dollar issued for commercial use in America since the last Seated Liberty Dollar of 1873. The Trade Dollar was minted during this time period but was intended to be used only for trade in the Orient. The dollar was continuously minted until 1904 when the circulation supply of dollars was high and there was a lack of silver bullion. In 1918, the Pittman Act called for 270 million coins to be melted for silver content. In 1921, the coinage of the Morgan Dollar resumed for that year and was replaced by the Peace Dollar commemorative that would eventually become standard issue. Since 1921, many Morgan Silver Dollars have been melted. Melting of the Morgan Dollars mostly occurred when silver prices escalated because these dollars yield silver bullion.  The value of a Morgan silver dollar  coin normally depends on three factors; mint year, mint that created it, and the quality of its preservation.

Morgan Silver Dollars are comprised of 90% silver, 10% copper.  Uncirculated Morgans Dollars contain .7734 Troy ounces or 24.0566 grams of pure silver with a gross weight of .859 Troy ounces or 26.728 grams. Circulated Morgan Dollars generally weigh in a bit lighter at .7650 Troy ounces of pure silver due to the inevitable "wear factor" induced by handling these coins, this is referred to by some as trade content. Circulated silver coins, including Morgan Silver Dollars have been given the unseemly moniker of  "junk silver".

Caches of Morgan Dollars minted at the Carson City Mint were discovered and were sold to coin collectors by the federal government in the early 1970s. Many of these dollars were uncirculated and are called GSAs or General Services Administration and come in black plastic holders that mimic the holders used for proof silver Eisenhower dollars of the period. These encapsulated Morgan dollars have become very popular as collectibles.

If you are seeking a quality investment of Morgan Dollars for the least amount of money,  stay with the circulated grades of Extremely Fine (EF or XF) or About Uncirculated (AU). Uncirculated coins begin with Mint State 60 (MS60) and go to top-of-the-line MS65s.  Be cautious when investing in MS63 and higher grades, this level of graded coin should be "slabbed" by either NGC or PCGS exclusivley.