Silver Dollars | Simply Coins

Collecting Silver Dollars

Comments (0)

The silver dollar is the ideal coin for the beginning collector. They have high liquidity and can easily be converted to cash should you have to get out of your investment. Though they are legal tender, their one-dollar face value is largely symbolic because silver’s market price has historically been higher. You'll find the market price of silver reported in the market pages and web sites of major newspapers.

Silver dollars are sought after by both new and experienced collectors. The new collector, not knowing the advantages of specialization will grab anything within his budget. The experienced collector, finally having realized that he can't be knowledgeable about every collectable coin, has a tendency to specialize. The silver dollar is one type of coin that you can specialize in. Even within that coin type you'll find that you can specialize in American Eagles. Peace Dollars, and Morgan Dollars to name just three.

include_once '/home/artlynch/public_html/ASE/eBay/ASE-api.php';

echo GetSearchResults($query='silver dollars',$template='fst-001.php',$isAlternating=1,$numResults=5, $searchDescription=0,$duration=1, $cache=30,$isEmpty=0,$auctionAge='short',$XML='');

The first American Eagle Silver dollars were minted in 1986. The face (obverse in coin speak) of the coin features A.A. Weinman’s “Walking Liberty,” which was introduced on the 1917 silver half-dollar. An eagle and shield, are displayed on the back (reverse in coin speak) of this beautiful coin. Total weight of the coin is 1.000 Troy Ounces (31.103 Grams). The silver content is 0.999 Troy Ounce (31.072 Grams); the balance between that weight and the total weight is copper. The copper as in other silver dollars is added for strength. It has a diameter of 40.60 mm and a thickness of 2.98mmThe Peace Dollar was minted from 1921 through 1935. The obverse pictures a Liberty head quite different in character than those found on other coins. On the reverse is a standing eagle perched on a mound. There was a run of 316,00 minted in 1964, however, the entire production was ordered melted down. Congress and the US Treasury feared that we would run out of silver if coinage continued to have the same silver content. The Peace Dollar contains .77344 troy ounce (24.057 grams) of silver. Its total weight is .8594 troy ounce (26.73 grams). Copper makes up the difference between the two weights. The copper as in other silver dollars is added for strength. It has a diameter of 38,10 mm and a thickness of
2.00mm.

The Morgan Dollar is the last of the three noted above. It was minted from 1878 to 1904 and then again for a very small part of 1921 when the Peace Dollar was introduced. On the obverse a profile of Liberty head was depicted. The reverse carried a spread eagle clutching arrows and a branch. The Morgan Dollar is composed of .77344 troy ounce (24.057 grams) of silver with the balance of its total weight of .8594 troy ounce (26.73 grams) in copper. Copper adds strength and wear resistance to the silver. The diameter of the coin is 38,10 mm and it has a thickness of 2.00mm.

There were several other silver dollars minted including the Trade Dollar, Seated Liberty with motto, Seated Liberty with no motto, Seated Liberty with flying eagle, Draped Bust with large eagle, Draped Bust with small eagle, and Flowing Hair. The scarcity of these early silver dollars is such that they are seldom seen in your typical coin shop. However, I did see a Seated Liberty advertised in an eBay auction in January of 2008.

You can expect the price of the high mintage silver dollars to be close to the market price of an ounce of silver as reported in the market pages of your daily newspaper. The rare coins are a much more exciting story. PCGS (Professional Coin Grading Service) lists an 1889 CC Morgan Dollar with a value of $450,000.00.