Morgan Silver Dollar Value: How Much Silver, and Why It Sells Above Melt

Every old car is worth at least its weight in scrap metal. A 1965 Mustang is worth a great deal more, because people want a 1965 Mustang. A Morgan silver dollar works the same way: the silver inside sets the floor, and collectors decide how far above it the price sits.

So, how much silver is in a Morgan silver dollar? A Morgan dollar weighs 26.73 grams and is 90% silver, so it holds 24.06 grams of pure silver: 0.7734 troy ounces. Its melt value is that figure times the silver price, about $46.41 with silver at $60 an ounce. Morgans almost always sell for more than melt, because they were made from 1878 to 1904 and in 1921, about 270 million were melted in 1918 and later, and collectors want them. Common worn dates sell close to melt; rare dates and well-preserved coins sell for far more.

Already know the silver content? Skip to the melt table.

How much silver is in a silver dollar?

It depends on which silver dollar. The Morgan and the Peace dollar that followed it share one standard, set by law long before either was designed: 412.5 grains of metal, 90% silver and 10% copper. Here is how they compare with the other coins people call a silver dollar.

The arithmetic for a Morgan: 26.73 grams × 0.90 = 24.057 grams of silver. A troy ounce is 31.1035 grams, so 24.057 ÷ 31.1035 = 0.7734 troy ounces. That is a little over three quarters of an ounce, which is why a Morgan feels like a serious coin in the hand and a modern golden dollar feels like a large button.

What is a Morgan dollar worth in silver?

Melt value is the silver content times the price of silver. The price changes every minute, so here it is at a range of prices; the junk silver calculator has today’s figure (choose “Silver dollar”).

A roll of twenty old Morgans holds 15.47 ounces of silver. At $60 silver that is $928 of metal in a tube about the length of a TV remote.

Why do Morgan dollars sell for more than melt?

The scrap-metal price of a car tells you the least anyone would pay for it. It tells you nothing about what a collector will pay for a Mustang. Three things give the Morgan its extra.

There are fewer of them than there used to be. The US Mint struck roughly 659 million Morgans across the five mints. Then the Pittman Act of April 22, 1918 allowed up to 350 million silver dollars to be melted, and 270,232,722 were, most of the silver sold to Britain. About four in ten Morgans ever made became bars. Every one that went into the furnace made the survivors a bit scarcer.

Collectors want every date and mint. Morgans were struck at Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco, Carson City and, in 1921 only, Denver. Collectors try to own one of each, and some combinations were made in tiny numbers. The 1893 coin from San Francisco had a mintage of 100,000, the lowest of the series, and one in near-perfect condition sold for $2,086,875 in 2021. That is the Mustang with the original paint and the receipt in the glove box.

Condition matters enormously. Many Morgans spent decades in Treasury vaults without circulating, so plenty survive with little wear, and a coin with full luster and few marks is worth far more than a worn one of the same date. This is also why you should never clean one: the cleaning guide explains how a polish can turn a collector’s coin into a melt-value coin in about thirty seconds.

How much over melt does a common Morgan sell for?

Not much, for the ordinary ones. Dealers sell worn, common-date coins as “random year” or “cull” Morgans, and those trade close to the silver. The tracking site FindBullionPrices compares the cheapest dealer price it tracks with melt each day. From June 2025 to June 2026 that premium averaged between −2.09% (March 2026) and 10.67% (June 2025), month by month. A negative month means the cheapest listing sat under melt on average; prices for these coins do not always keep up with a fast-moving silver price.

Those are the lowest prices one site found, not what every dealer charges, and they are for coins the seller chooses. Ask for a particular date in good condition and the price climbs quickly. The guide to premiums explains the gap between spot and what you pay, and the premium calculator works it out for a price you have been quoted.

Which Morgan dollars are worth more?

This guide doesn’t price individual dates, because the answer depends on condition and a grading service’s opinion more than on anything a table can show. But four things tell you a coin deserves a closer look before anyone weighs it:

• The mint mark. Look on the back, under the wreath, just above the D and O of DOLLAR. No letter means Philadelphia. O is New Orleans, S is San Francisco, D is Denver, and CC is Carson City.
• CC on the back. Carson City made only about 2% of all Morgans, so CC coins carry a collector premium even when worn. In 1972 to 1980 the government sold about 2.8 million of them that had sat in Treasury vaults, by mail-order auction, in special holders, which means the federal government once ran its own version of a late-night TV offer, for its own coins.
• A low-mintage date. 1893-S (100,000 made) and 1889-CC (350,000) are the famous ones, and 1895 from Philadelphia is known only as a proof coin. Fakes of all three are common, so check one with the coin checker and a grading service before you get excited.
• A sharp, unworn coin of any date. Luster on the high points of Liberty’s cheek and hair is worth money even on a common year.

If a coin fails all four tests, it is most likely a common Morgan worth a little over melt. That is still about $46 at $60 silver, which is more than a lot of things in a junk drawer.

Why were Morgan dollars made at all?

Because Congress made the Treasury buy silver. The Bland–Allison Act, passed over President Hayes’s veto on February 28, 1878, required the government to buy between $2 million and $4 million of silver every month and coin it into dollars. The Sherman Silver Purchase Act of 1890 raised the purchase to 4.5 million ounces a month until it was repealed in 1893. The point was to please silver-mining states and borrowers who wanted more money in circulation.

The public mostly preferred paper. The heavy coins piled up in Treasury vaults by the millions, which is the government version of buying a treadmill that becomes a place to hang shirts. That pile is the reason so many Morgans survive in good condition today, and the reason the Carson City hoard was still sitting in a vault in the 1960s. The Gresham’s law article covers what happens to silver coins once people notice they are worth more than their face.

What about the 2021 Morgan dollars?

The US Mint revived the Morgan and Peace designs in 2021 for the hundredth anniversary of the switch between them, and has struck them in several years since. These are collector coins, sold by the Mint above the price of their silver, and they are made of 99.9% silver rather than 90%: 0.858 ounces each. Don’t mix them up with the old ones. A 2021 Morgan has more silver than an 1881 Morgan and, as a collectible, a very different market.

The fair objection

If what you want is silver by the ounce, a Morgan is a roundabout way to buy it. You pay something for the history, the coins are easy to fake, and their prices move with collector taste as well as with silver. A plain bullion coin or a bag of dimes tracks the metal more closely. The case for the Morgan is that a common one costs only a little more than its silver, and it carries a chance of being something better. That chance is real, and it is also how a lot of people end up paying collector prices for common coins.

Back to the Mustang

Melt value is the scrapyard price, and for a Morgan it is a floor that rises and falls with silver. Everything above it is people wanting that particular car. Check the date, the mint mark and the condition before you treat one as metal. Most are ordinary. A few are the one with the original paint.

Sources

• Morgan dollar weight (26.73 g, 412.5 grains), fineness, silver content (0.7734 troy oz), dates, mint marks and their position, mintages by mint, the 1893-S and 1889-CC mintages, the 1895 proofs, the $2,086,875 sale of an 1893-S in 2021, the Carson City share and the GSA sales of 1972 to 1980, and the 2021-onward issues (99.9% silver, 0.858 oz): Wikipedia, Morgan dollar.
• Peace dollar dates and standard: Wikipedia, Peace dollar. Eisenhower dollar silver issues (24.59 g, 40%) and the 90% standard: the coin table on this site’s junk silver calculator, with its sources. Modern dollar coin (8.1 g, no silver): US Mint, coin specifications.
• The Pittman Act (April 22, 1918; up to 350 million dollars authorized, 270,232,722 melted): Wikipedia, Pittman Act. The Bland–Allison Act (February 28, 1878) and Sherman Silver Purchase Act (1890, repealed 1893): Wikipedia, Wikipedia.
• Premiums on random-year Morgan dollars (lowest tracked dealer price against melt, monthly averages, June 2025 to June 2026): FindBullionPrices.

Melt values are worked from the stated silver prices, not from today’s price. Sources read October 17, 2026.

Questions people actually ask

How much silver is in a Morgan silver dollar?

A Morgan dollar made from 1878 to 1904 or in 1921 weighs 26.73 grams and is 90% silver, so it holds 24.057 grams of pure silver, or 0.7734 troy ounces. The Morgan dollars the US Mint has struck since 2021 are 99.9% silver and hold 0.858 troy ounces.

What is the melt value of a Morgan silver dollar?

Multiply 0.7734 by the price of silver per troy ounce. With silver at $60, an old Morgan holds $46.41 of silver; at $50 it holds $38.67.

Why are Morgan dollars worth more than their silver?

Collectors want them. About 270 million were melted under the Pittman Act of 1918, some dates and mints were made in small numbers, and well-preserved coins are scarce. Common worn Morgans sell close to melt; rare dates and sharp coins sell for much more.

How much over melt does a common Morgan dollar sell for?

Usually a few percent. FindBullionPrices, which compares the cheapest dealer price it tracks with melt, recorded monthly averages between -2.09% and 10.67% for random-year Morgans from June 2025 to June 2026. Specific dates in good condition cost more.

Where is the mint mark on a Morgan silver dollar?

On the back, below the wreath and just above the letters D and O in DOLLAR. No mark means Philadelphia; O is New Orleans, S is San Francisco, CC is Carson City and D is Denver, used only in 1921.

Which Morgan dollars are the most valuable?

The 1893 coin from San Francisco is the key date, with a mintage of 100,000; one in near-perfect condition sold for $2,086,875 in 2021. The 1889-CC and the 1895 Philadelphia proof are also famous rarities, and Carson City coins in general carry a premium. All are widely faked.

Is a Peace dollar the same as a Morgan dollar?

In silver, yes. The Peace dollar replaced the Morgan in 1921 and was struck to the same standard, 26.73 grams of 90% silver with 0.7734 troy ounces of pure silver, through 1935.

Are Morgan dollars junk silver?

They are 90% silver like junk silver coins, but dealers usually sell them separately and price them higher, because collectors want them. Worn common dates are sometimes sold as cull Morgans, close to melt.

How many Morgan dollars were made?

Roughly 659 million across the five mints from 1878 to 1904 and in 1921. About 270 million of them were melted under the Pittman Act of 1918.

Should I clean a Morgan silver dollar?

No. Cleaning leaves fine scratches and an unnatural shine, and it can cut a collectible Morgan's value to little more than melt.