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A History of the Silver Dollar
Morgan Silver Dollars
 The
Morgan silver dollar was named for its designer George T.
Morgan, who placed an "M" on both sides of the coin
to lay his claim. These coins were minted from 1878
until 1904 in the Philadelphia, New Orleans, San Francisco,
and Carson City mints. Letters signifying the
mint of the coin (commonly referred to as a mint mark) were
stamped on the reverse side of the coin underneath the branches
on which the Eagle sits. Only Morgan silver dollars
coined in Philadelphia have no mint mark.
The coins were discontinued in 1904 after the government exhausted its supply of silver bullion. In 1918, Congress passed the Pittman Act and recalled over 270 million silver dollars for melting. The silver dollar gained new life in America in 1921 and in that year the Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Denver mints coined the last Morgan silver dollars.
Peace Silver Dollars
These same three mints also began production of Peace silver
dollars in 1921. Mint marks on Peace silver dollars
(except for coins minted in Philadelphia) are located underneath
the word "ONE" next to the eagle on the coin's reverse.
These coins were designed by medalist Anthony DeFrancisci
to commemorate World War I and were minted until 1935.
Peace silver dollars were actually struck again in Denver
in 1965 but were never released to the public. All were
melted and none from this date have been preserved.
A History of the Silver
Dollar
The history of the silver dollar in the United States precedes the Morgan and Peace varieties. Congress first authorized the silver dollar on April 2, 1792. For the next thirteen years, a few variations of the silver dollar existed. The coinage of these dollars was suspended until 1835 when Gobrecht dollar varieties (named for engraver Christian Gobrecht) began being struck. The Liberty Seated silver dollar followed in 1840 and continued until Congress eliminated coinage of the silver dollar in an act commonly referred to as the "Crime of '73". To understand why an Act of Congress could be met with such acrimony as to be called a crime by a large segment of the population, it is necessary to understand the economic climate of the United States at the time.
America experienced a great depression in the 1870s.
This depression led to a bi-metallism movement favored by
agrarians, miners, and debtors of the Democratic Party.
This movement, known as the Free Silver Movement, advocated
the unlimited
coinage of silver and began in earnest when Congress discontinued
the silver dollar with the "Crime of '73." For
the ensuing five years, only slightly larger (Trade) dollars
were minted, and expressly for export to Asia. The vast
majority of citizens in the United States would not see any
newly minted silver coins during this period.
The Free Silver Movement's first major achievement was the Bland-Allison Act of 1878, which resulted in the re-emergence of the silver dollar in the form of the Morgan. The victory was two-fold for proponents of a silver standard. Not only was the silver dollar restored as legal tender (which marked the origination of the Morgan dollar), but the US Treasury was also required to purchase between $2 - $4 million in silver for minting dollars. Certainly much of this silver came from the famed silver Comstock Lode in western Nevada. In 1890, Congress passed the Sherman Silver Purchase Act (over a presidential veto by Benjamin Harrison) which increased the amount of silver purchased by over 50%.
This Act occurred in the same year William Jennings Bryan
(pictured here) delivered his famous "Cross of Gold"
speech. It was this speech that garnered him the Democratic
presidential nomination for the 1892 election at the age of
36, making him the youngest person to earn this distinction
from a major party. Demand for a silver standard waned
(much as the gold standard would later on). Soon after, the
Republicans held the White House and a silver standard has
never been seriously considered since. Although many
countries utilized a silver standard in the 19th Century,
no country in the world operates on one today.
The Coinage Act of 1965 was designed to reduce or eliminate the amount of silver in American coins. Coins minted after this date were composed of a lower percentage of silver or contained none at all. Therefore, many Americans started hoarding silver dollars in circulation. Silver dollars that went uncirculated are of a higher grade and of investment quality.
The United States has minted only two other silver dollars after the Peace dollar. Eisenhower dollars, minted from 1971-78, conformed to the Coinage Act of 1965 and are composed of only 40% silver. The Silver American Eagles of today are bullion coins, meaning that even though "ONE DOLLAR" appears on these coins, they are actually worth closer to the spot price that silver
carries.
Courtesy of the Binion Collection.
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