Nineteenth century silver dollar collection
A collection of four silver dollars. Individually, the silver dollars were minted in the years 1879, 1880, 1887, and 1890. The coins minted 1880, 1887, and 1890 are in remarkable condition. The coin minted in 1879 is in used condition, but all markings remain clearly visible and text is clearly legible, including the smaller "In God We Trust" text on the backside. None of the photos have been edited in any way beyond the addition of text to indicate the mint year of the coin in the photograph.
Each coin has a standard diameter of 1.5" (or ~4cm). Each coin is 26g in weight, except for 1880, which weighs 27g.
Inherited
Yes
Hi Barrett,
Thank you for contacting Mearto with your appraisal inquiry.
Liberty head silver dollars are known as "Morgan Silver Dollars" after George T. Morgan, who designed them; they first started to be minted in 1878.
You don't indicate if these have a mint mark; coins minted in Philadelphia won't have a mint mark while ones made in Carson City will say "CC", ones minted in New Orleans with an "O" and ones with an "S" were minted in San Francisco. I'll assume these were all minted in Philadelphia but if that's not correct, please let me know as it can affect value considerably.
I'm presuming you haven't had these coins graded; to determine if it's worth taking the time and expense to have them graded, I'll give you the value ranges each coin are currently worth, depending on grade as currently reported by the Numismatic Guaranty Company (NGC).
1879 Morgan Silver Dollar (Philadelphia)
Philadelphia minted 14,806,000 Morgan dollars, the site of the largest production that year. NCG notes that circulated coins from this minting are worth between $36 and $76.
1880 Morgan Silver Dollar (Philadelphia)
12,600,000 were made in Philadelphia; I can't tell if this has special strikes (which would indicate a more valuable proof coin, valued between $3,000-$10,000) but prices on a standard-issue coin range from Very Fine ($35-45) to uncirculated mint $85-$600 (there are some higher grades but I doubt this is in such fine condition).
1887 Morgan Silver Dollar (Philadelphia)
In 1887, the Philadelphia Mint struck a large number of Morgan silver dollars: 20,290,000 coins were minted, 710 of which were "proof" coins, struck for collectors (and worth now between $3.000-10,000 depending on condition).
Circulated standard mint coins range from Very Fine ($35-45) to Uncirculated Mint ($75-650)
1890 Morgan Silver Dollar (Philadelphia)
16,802,000 were minted with 590 proof coins struck for collectors (ranging in value from $3,000-10,000). Circulated standard coins range in value from $70 to $450.
Taken as a whole, and assuming these are not special proof coins or minted outside of Philadelphia, this collection has a cumulative value ranging from $176-1776
It might be worth taking these coins to a local coin expert to confirm that they are not proof coins; if they are, this collection could be worth several thousand dollars.
Please let us know if you have additional items to appraise, or questions/concerns, and thank you again for using Mearto.
~ Delia
